L 


tt/vi 


HIS    GREAT    SELF. 


BY 


MARION    HARLAXD. 


"  My  heart  weeps  to  see  him 
So  little  of  his  great  self." 

KING  HENRY  VIII.— ACT  III.,  SCENE  2. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 

1892. 


Copyright,  1891,  by  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 


PRINTED  BY  J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY,  PHILADELPHIA. 


TO   MY   FRIEXDS, 

MAJOE  AND   MRS.  DREWRY, 

OF  WESTOVER, 

IN   AFFECTIONATE  MEMORY  OF  HAPPY  DAYS  SPENT  UNDER   THAT    ANCIENT 
ROOF,    AND   IN    ACKNOWLEDGMENT   OF    VALUABLE    ASSISTANCE 
RECEIVED  FROM  HOST  AND  HOSTESS  IN  THE  COLLEC 
TION  OF  MATERIAL  FOR  MY  CHRONICLE, 

THIS     VOLUME     IS 

DEDICATED. 


1782160 


HIS  GREAT  SELF. 


CHAPTER    I. 

"'Tis  certainly  a  convenience,  under  certain  circum 
stances,  to  have  a  husband,  and  for  a  plantation  to  have 
a  master." 

Madam  Byrd  said  it  musingly,  as  one  who  weighs  a 
matter  fairly.  She  stood  in  the  front  door  of  her  home, 
watching  a  little  fleet  of  three  boats  just  parting  from 
the  pier  at  the  foot  of  the  lawn.  Two  were  broad, 
clumsy  punts,  each  carrying  two  horses  saddled  and 
bridled,  with  grooms  at  their  heads.  The  third,  which 
led  the  way  across  the  river,  was  a  large  wherry,  English- 
built — sharp  of  prow  and  keel.  Her  wet  sides  glistened 
in  the  sun  ;  lines  of  foam  swept  to  the  right  and  left 
as  she  cut  a  straight  trough  in  the  water  under  the 
powerful  strokes  of  three  pairs  of  oars.  The  negro 
boatmen  in  all  the  boats  wore  white  shirts,  blue  trousers, 
and  wide  scarlet  belts.  In  the  wherry-bows  a  stately 
figure  arose  to  wave  his  hat  to  the  wife  in  the  door 
way. 

"  Especially  such  a  husband  as  yours  !" 

The  laughing  reply  was  made  by  Mrs.  Carter,  a  pretty 
and  youthful  matron,  as,  from  her  easy-chair  in  the 
hall,  she  craned  her  neck  for  a  view  of  the  fleet. 

l*  5 


6  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Somebody  called  him  in  my  hearing,  the  other  day, 
'  a  trinity  of  perfections/  "  she  continued  in  the  same 
strain, — "  '  a  Sidney,  a  Raleigh,  and  a  Bayard  fused  into 
one  form,  and  that  a  model  of  domestic  virtues  and 
graces.'  I  quoted  for  reply  what  Governor  Spotswood 
said  to  Colonel  Byrd,  when  teased  about  his  fondness 
for  the  wife  he  married  late  in  life, — '  Whoever  brings 
a  poor  gentlewoman  into  so  solitary  a  place,  from  all  her 
friends  and  acquaintances  would  be  ungrateful  not  to 
use  her  with  all  possible  tenderness.'  " 

"  He  spoke  of  Gerinanna !"  retorted  the  other,  briskly. 
"  The  colonel  says  it  is  a  very  wilderness.  The  gov 
ernor's  is  the  only  house  worth  naming  in  all  the  region. 
How  Lady  Spotswood  and  her  sister  can  abide  to  live 
amid  such  desolateness  passes  me.  And,  within-doors, 
such  strange  doings !  The  colonel,  on  one  of  his  visits, 
was  carried  into  a  room  elegantly  set  off  with  pier- 
glasses  and  much  fine  furniture  ;  but  would  you  believe 
it  ?  not  only  three  dogs,  but  two  tame  deer  were  let  to 
follow  the  ladies  into  this  apartment  where  the  table 
was  ready  laid  for  supper.  One  of  the  deer,  spying 
himself  in  a  mirror,  leaped  to  get  at  the  image,  broke 
the  glass  to  pieces  and  fell  back  upon  the  table,  shat 
tering  much  china.  Had  so  unlucky  an  accident  hap 
pened  in  my  house  and  in  a  stranger's  presence  I  should 
have  died  of  mortification." 

"But  we  must  not  forget,  mamma,  that  papa  said 
'twas  worth  all  the  damage  to  show  the  moderation  and 
good-humor  with  which  Lady  Spotswood  bore  the 
disaster,"  said  a  voice  from  the  neighboring  drawing- 
room. 

"  Tut,  child  !  'twould  be  be.st  on  that  head  to  have 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  7 

in  my  lady  as  a  witness  rather  than  your  father.  I'll 
warrant  that  deer  was  ready  for  the  spit  in  twenty-four 
hours'  time.  'Tis  easy  prating  philosophy  and  resig 
nation  over  other  people's  mishaps.  Should  any  ill 
befall  the  mantel-glass  your  father  and  you  are  so  vain 
of,  we  should  have  Job's  story  over  again.  When  he 
was  touched  to  the  quick,  he  cursed  the  day  he  was 
born." 

"  'Tis  a  noble  mirror,"  remarked  Mrs.  Carter.  "  I 
doubt  if  there  be  one  to  match  it  in  America." 

"  One  of  the  colonel's  extravagances  !"  said  the  wife, 
in  affected  petulance.  "  Heaven  knows  the  building 
we've  been  at  these  six  years  has  cost  us  enough  without 
paying  five  hundred  pounds  for  a  mirror  to  reflect  his 
charms  of  person — and  his  daughter's  !"  glancing  slyly 
toward  the  drawing-room  and  purposely  raising  her 
voice. 

A  low,  musical  laugh  acknowledged  the  hit,  but  no 
one  appeared. 

Mrs.  Carter — the  wealthy  mistress  of  Shirley,  a  lordly 
estate  higher  up  the  river  that  had  come  to  her  husband 
through  her  as  an  only  child — lifted  her  eyebrows 
slightly  as  the  price  of  the  glass  was  named.  In  mar 
rying  Maria  Taylor,  a  London  heiress  of  suitable  age, 
Colonel  William  Evelyn  Byrd,  already  the  owner  of 
what  a  contemporary  calls  "a  principality"  in  the  New 
World,  doubled  his  fortune.  The  fair  chdtelaine  of 
Shirley,  born  and  brought  up  in  America,  fancied 
sometimes  that  she  detected  in  Madam  Byrd's  bearing 
and  speech  a  flavor  of  purse-pride,  a  quality  which  only 
age  and  habit  can  refine  away.  Still,  madam  was  an 
esteemed  neighbor,  arid  while  her  tongue  was  glib  and 


8  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

upon  occasion,  sharp  she  was  sound-hearted  and  true 
and  at  her  best  when  her  friends  were  in  trouble.  Too 
well-bred  to  express  surprise  at  the  cost  of  the  mirror, 
or  at  the  mention  of  it  by  the  purchaser's  wife,  Mrs. 
Carter  diverted  the  conversation  : 

"  You  should  be  well  content  with  the  result  of 
your  years  of  pulling  down  and  building  up.  If 
Westover  were  ever  one  of  the  solitary  places  whereof 
our  uxorious  ex-governor  speaks,  you  have  made  it  to 
rejoice  and  the  wilderness  to  blossom  as  the  rose." 

Madam  tried  to  look  more  indifferent  than  com 
placent,  picking  diligently  at  a  knot  in  her  netting- 
thread  before  replying, — 

"  Aye !  'tis  well  enough — for  Virginia  !  Nothing 
can  make  it  London  or  England.  Though,  to  do  him 
justice,  the  colonel  has  wrought  long  and  well  to  con 
tent  me  in  my  exile.  I  have  little  to  fret  over, — ex 
cept,  of  course,  servants.  And  I  chose  mine  own  lot. 
As  you  say,  there  are  not  many  men  on  either  side  of 
the  sea  comparable  to  the  father  of  my  children." 

She  had  remained  standing  in  the  doorway  all  this 
while,  thread  and  shuttle  in  hand,  and  now  fluttered 
her  handkerchief  in  adieu  to  the  fast-dwindling  wherry. 
The  day  was  sultry,  and  she  pulled  a  chair  into  the 
draught  in  the  middle  of  the  hall. 

"  There !"  she  sighed,  establishing  herself  with  due 
regard  to  the  folds  of  her  silken  gown,  "  I  shall  see 
no  more  of  him  for  a  full  month,  I  suppose.  If  I 
could  put  from  me  the  imagination  of  the  perils  he 
may  encounter, — the  nights  he  will  spend  on  the  damp 
ground,  the  ill-savored  victuals,  the  agues  and  swamps 
and  tiresome  marches  and  the  chances  of  death  at  the 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  9 

hands  of  hostile  Indians, — I  could  be  quite  easy  now 
that  he  is  gone.  For,  though,  as  I  said  awhile  ago, 
'tis  convenient  to  have  a  husband  and  pleasant  when 
he  is  an  accomplished  gentleman,  a  smack  of  liberty 
refreshes  every  woman  now  and  then, — were  she  Gri- 
selda  herself." 

"  Are  you  sure  that  you  have  not  an  unruly  hanker 
ing  after  absolute  sovereignty  ?" 

It  was  the  voice  that  had  called  her  "  mamma,"  and, 
in  speaking,  a  young  woman  emerged  from  the  draw 
ing-room,  with  a  sleeping  child  in  her  arms. 

"Lady  Bess  has  fallen  asleep,  Mrs.  Carter;"  drop 
ping  her  tone  of  affectionate  banter  for  a  more  cautious, 
"Shall  I  lay  her  here  on  the  settle,  or  is  it  your  will 
that  I  shall  take  her  up  to  your  room?" 

"  The  naughty  minx  !"  chided  the  mother,  rising  in 
haste.  "  I  should  have  distrusted  that  somewhat  was 
amiss  when  she  was  quiet  for  so  long.  Evelyn,  dear 
girl,  lay  her  here  at  once.  Her  weight  is  enough  to 
bend  you  double." 

By  now  she  had  arranged  a  shawl  and  pillows  upon 
the  roomy  hall-settle,  and  the  child  was  gently  laid 
upon  them.  One  of  Miss  Byrd's  admirers  had  once, 
on  seeing  her  pet  fall  asleep  upon  her  shoulder,  likened 
the  twain  to  a  rose  and  bud, — a  compliment  that  moved 
her  as  little  as  did  Mrs.  Carter's  more  homely  protest. 
As  she  stood  erect,  after  parting  with  her  burden,  the 
richer  carmine  of  her  cheeks  was  the  only  token  of 
unusual  exertion. 

"  My  bonnie  maid  !"  she  murmured,  looking  fondly 
at  the  sleeper.  "  She  is  every  day  more  the  '  little 
fairy'  papa  calls  her.  She  crept  into  my  arms  like  a 


10  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

tired  kitten,  and  was  in  dream-laud  before  I  suspected 
her  of  drowsiness." 

Lady  Bess — so  nick-named  by  her  godfather,  Colo 
nel  Byrd — was  a  spoiled  darling  from  the  first  moon 
of  her  existence.  She  lay  curled  up  among  the  folds 
of  the  rose-colored  shawl  like  a  fay  asleep  in  a  shell, 
the  fairer  for  the  proximity  of  a  tall  press  of  black  oak, 
elaborately  carved  and  surmounted  by  the  Byrd  coat- 
of-arms. 

"  I  wish,  sometimes,"  continued  Evelyn,  softly,  "  that 
I  might  read  my  beauty's  future.  If  I  might  cast  her 
horoscope,  she  would  have  many  sunny  days  and  no 
more  cloudy  than  the  dear  Lord  sees  are  for  her  soul's 
growth." 

"Her  lot  will  not  be  like  to  differ  from  other 
people's,"  said  Madam  Byrd,  practically  prompt. 
"Just  what  the  Almighty  appoints  and  does,  without 
holding  counsel  with  the  stars  or  with  us.  Her  mother 
and  your  father  are  agreed  in  fetching  about  a  match 
between  her  and  my  Will.  More,  as  1  have  told  them 
over  and  over,  because  the  plantations  of  Shirley  and 
Westover  march  together  than  because  the  children  were 
made  for  one  another.  'Tis  a  sort  of  royal-alliance 
affair  that  jumps  well  with  the  pride  of  the  heiress  of 
Sir  Edward  Hill  and  the  ambition  of  William  the 
Second  of  Westover.  As  for  the  happiness  of  the  poor 
puppets,  that — God  help  them  ! — may  go  to  the  wall." 

"  Fie,  fie  !"  cried  the  amiable  neighbor.  "  As  if  my 
Bess  could  fail  to  make  your  boy  the  happiest  of  men, 
or  William  the  Third  grow  up  to  be  one  whit  the  less 
charming  than  his  father  !  We  shall  have  you  mad 
for  the  marriage  in  a  dozen  years  or  so.  It  will  be  my 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  H 

part,  then,  to  hem  and  haw  and  doubt  if  the  best  man  the 
Lord  ever  made  can  be  good  enough  for  my  daughter." 

While  the  good-humored  badinage  went  on,  Evelyn 
leaned  against  the  oaken  annoire,  seeming,  by  her  half- 
smile,  to  hearken,  but  silent,  her  eyes  upon  the  slum 
bering  child. 

The  day  was  unseasonably  warm  even  for  September 
in  tide-water  Virginia,  and  her  gown  was  of  white 
muslin,  girt  about  the  waist  with  a  blue  lutestring 
cincture.  One  arm  was  thrown  a  little  way  above  her 
head,  the  hand  supported  by  one  of  the  carved  pome 
granates  on  the  panels  of  the  press-doors.  The  loose 
sleeve,  slipping  down  to  the  elbow,  showed  a  forearm 
of  exquisite  mould  and  fairness;  her  cheek  rested 
against  the  umber  wood  that  made  a  background  for 
her  profiled  face  and  form.  Her  eyes  were  large  and 
brown ;  her  hair  was  a  shade  darker ;  her  complexion 
was  delicate  and  sensitive,  the  bloom  flickering  through 
the  skin  as  she  spoke  or  moved,  as  flame  wavers  in  the 
wind.  The  fine  oval  of  her  face,  the  graceful  turn  of 
her  neck,  the  slope  of  her  shoulders,  the  pose  of  her 
head  and  her  perfect  hands  were  indices  of  old  blood 
and  gentle  breeding.  The  lips  were  well  cut  and 
mobile,  and  the  red  fulness  of  the  lower  had  in  it  a 
suggestion  of  passionate  sweetness  contradicted  by  the 
placid  indifference  which,  thus  far,  she  exhibited  to 
lovers,  gentle  and  simple.  The  modulations  of  her 
voice,  although  singularly  refined  and  pure,  were  more 
varied  than  those  of  her  English  step-mother,  and  she 
spoke  her  father's  tongue  with  a  slight  foreign  intona 
tion, — it  was  hardly  an  accent, — very  bewitching  to 
ears  used  to  colonial  carelessness  of  speech. 


12  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

She  had,  in  fact,  been  educated  in  Paris  from  her 
sixth  to  her  twelfth  year,  at  which  time  her  father,  in 
the  third  year  of  his  widowerhood,  wedded  an  English 
woman,  and  leaving  the  two  daughters  of  the  first 
marriage  in  charge  of  a  governess  in  London,  sailed 
for  America  and  settled  upon  his  patrimonial  estate. 

His  beautiful  girls  were  the  toast  of  Virginia  cava 
liers  some  years  later,  driving  some  unsuccessful  wooers 
out  of  the  colony,  and,  according  to  their  witty  parent, 
forcing  so  many  to  take  holy  orders  as  a  solace  for 
earthly  disappointment  that  he  congratulated  the  ob 
durate  belles  upon  their  success  in  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel.  Lucy  Byrd  married,  at  seventeen,  Mr. 
Chamberlayne  of  Eastern  Virginia,  and  went  to  live 
upon  her  husband's  plantation,  more  than  fifty  miles 
away.  Evelyn  passed  two  years  of  her  girlhood  with 
friends  in  England,  was  presented  at  court,  and  hon 
ored  by  the  admiration  of  royalty.  Rumors  of  her 
belleship  and  social  triumphs  were  rife  in  her  distant 
home,  when  her  father  departed  from  America  in  one 
of  his  own  fast-sailing  vessels,  arrived  unexpectedly  in 
London,  and  bore  off  his  daughter  with  him  on  a 
continental  tour,  embarking  at  Genoa  for  his  native 
land. 

This  was  five  years  prior  to  the  September  morning 
when,  in  the  chastened  loveliness  of  perfected  woman 
hood,  she  lent  divided  attention  to  the  chat  of  her  step 
mother  with  her  guest,  and  resting  indolently  against 
the  oaken  armoire,  dreamed — was  it  only  of  Lady 
Bess's  future? 

The  noule  mirror  of  which  Madam  had  feigned  to 
speak  lightly  received  through  the  open  door  of  the 


JUS   GREAT  SELF.  13 

drawing-room    the    faithful    reflection  of  the   musing 

o  <~> 

figure  defined  in  strong  relief  against  the  sombre  panel 
by  the  sunlight  flooding  the  hall. 

In  the  small  chamber  opposite  the  state  apartment, 
a  man,  looking  up  from  his  desk  as  the  door  swung 
ajar  in  a  wandering  breeze,  caught  sight  of  the  picture, 
and  sat  moveless,  pen  suspended  in  air. 

"My  private  secretary,  Mr.  Bass,"  was  Colonel 
Byrd's  usual  formula  of  introduction  of  the  demure 
scribe.  His  outspoken  consort  affirmed  that  "  he  made 
no  more  difference  in  the  house  than  a  tame  sheep,  and 
even  less,  for  the  sheep  might  bleat  if  you  stumbled 
over  him,  whereas  Colin  Bass  would  not  whimper 
though  you  trampled  him  to  a  jelly." 

The  secretary-sheep  was  not  ill-looking.  His  pow 
dered  hair  was  combed  away  from  a  round  forehead 
and  tied  with  a  black  ribbon  behind  a  round  head. 
His  eyes  were  deep-set  and  of  an  opaque  gray ;  except 
that  the  upper  lip  projected  beyond  the  lower  and  that 
both  were  thin,  the  mouth  was  not  amiss;  his  chin  was 
square,  with  a  sunken  scar  on  the  left  side,  in  which 
he  had  a  trick  of  laying  his  forefinger  when  thoughtful. 
It  went  up  now  and  rested  there,  his  regards  never 
stirring  from  the  mirror.  His  brows  met  with  the 
effect  of  depressing  the  round  forehead  and  giving  a 
sinister  cast  to  the  eyes;  his  chin  was  the  squarer  for 
the.  gradual  clinching  of  the  jaws  that  narrowed  the 
lips  to  a  thread.  His  fingers  played  nervously  with 
the  quill  of  his  pen,  but  he  neither  glanced  at  them 
nor  at  the  page  he  had  been  transcribing.  It  was  the 
look  of  one  who  hungered  with  a  mortal  hunger — 
with  the  desperation  of  a  forlorn  hope — not  despair. 


14  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

The  Westover  library — described  by  the  historian 
Stith  as  "  the  best  and  most  copious  collection  of  books 
in  that  part  of  America" — lined  the  walls  of  a  spacious 
apartment  adjoining  the  drawing-room.  In  the  heat  of 
the  summer  weather  and  the  general  free-and-easiness 
of  a  house  so  hospitable  that  inner  and  outer  doors 
stood,  like  "  the  golden  gates  of  gospel  grace,"  open 
night  and  day,  that  joining  the  t\vo  rooms  was  seldom 
shut.  It  had  been  wide  open  while  Evelyn  permitted 
Lady  Bess  to  doze  off  in  her  arms.  By  means  of  it, 
another  pair  of  eyes,  full  and  expressive,  surveyed  the 
goodly  picture  set  between  the  masses  of  grape.*,  tendrils, 
and  leaves,  sculptured  in  Carrara  marble,  which  formed 
the  border  of  the  glass, — a  framing  that  accounted  satis 
factorily  to  connoisseurs  for  the  sum  paid  by  the  affluent 
planter  for  his  recent  acquisition. 

The  occupant  of  the  library  was  a  man  of  thirty, 
with  an  olive-pale,  clearly-chiselled  face,  replete  with 
strength  and  intelligence,  tempered  by  mildness  that 
was  indescribably  winning,  even  to  strangers.  He  was 
dressed  in  black,  the  sign  at  that  date  that  the  wearer 
was  a  clergyman,  or  in  mourning  for  a  near  relative. 
The  nominal  residence  of  the  Westover  chaplain  and 
rector  of  the  parish  church  was  in  bachelor's  quarters 
two  miles  away,  upon  a  glebe- farm  ;  but  he  was  more 
at  home  in  the  Westover  homestead  than  there.  He 
had,  on  this  morning,  accompanied  Colonel  Byrd  to  the 
landing,  seen  him  embarked,  and  returned  to  the  house 
by  a  side-entrance.  In  the  act  of  drawing  a  book  from 
the  shelf,  he  was  arrested  as  by  a  vision.  So  nearly 
perfect  was  the  reflection  and  so  motionless,  the  figure 
seeming  to  float  in  the  far,  dusky  depths  of  the  mirror, 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  15 

that  a  sensation  of  dizzy  unreality  passed  over  him.  It 
was  as  if  his  thoughts  had  taken  visible  shape.  A 
second  explained  the  illusion,  but  he  did  not  move  to 
take  down  the  book. 

Had  Evelyn  glanced  toward  the  drawing-room  door, 
she  must  have  seen  both  gazers  in  the  tell-tale  glass, 
and,  perhaps — for  the  brain  behind  the  liquid  eyes  was 
quick — learned  what  would  have  put  the  woman  within 
her  on  guard.  When  she  did  turn,  it  was  to  reply  to 
her  step-mother's  incisive  address  : 

"Bless  me,  child  !  while  you  stand  mooning  there 
the  day  is  half-gone,  and  all  those  bushels  of  roses 
wasting  for  the  lack  of  picking.  There  will  likely  be 
rain  by  to-morrow,  and  then,  what  waste!  There's 
nothing  so  uncertain  as  September  weather." 

"I  did  not  forget  the  roses,  mamma;  I  only  waited 
for  the  dew  to  dry  off." 

"  Dew  !  You  might  have  walked  across  the  lawn  in 
white  satin  slippers  at  sunrise  and  found  not  a  drop  ! 
Another  token  of  rain  !  Pray  GOD  the  Colonel  get  not 
the  rheumatism  this  night !" 

As  the  girl  passed  from  the  field  of  the  mirror, 
the  unseen  spectators  changed  each  his  position,  in 
voluntarily,  to  follow  the  flitting  image  and  their 
eyes  met  in  the  glass.  A  dull  glow  suffused  the  sec 
retary's  face;  the  better-bred  man  returned  the  defiant 
look  that  was  yet  embarrassed,  with  one  so  calm  and 
keen  that  Bass  bent  his  head  again  over  his  manu 
script. 

The  table  was  littered  with  loose  sheets  of  varying 
sizes,  closely  written,  but  disfigured  by  erasures,  inter 
lineations,  and  marginal  notes.  Bass's  task  was  to 


16  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

make  a  fair  copy  of  them  in  a  large  volume  bound  in 
vellum. 

These  remarkable  MSS. — still  in  excellent  preserva 
tion — deserve  more  than  the  brief  notice  which  the 
novelist  may  fitly  give  of  an  authentic  and  valuable 
relic.  Some  years  previous  to  the  date  at  which  my 
reader  is  introduced  to  the  dramatis  personce  of  my 
story,  William  Evelyn  Byrd,  Richard  Fitz- William, 
and  William  Dand  ridge,  Esqrs.,  members  of  His 
Majesty's  Council  in  Virginia,  were  appointed  to  meet 
with  four  commissioners  from  North  Carolina,  "to 
determine  the  Controversy  relating  to  the  Bounds 
between  the  Governments  of  Virginia  and  North  Caro 
lina."  In  pursuance  of  this  object,  these  gentlemen  led 
a  party  of  four  surveyors  and  twenty-one  assistants, 
with  servants  and  Indian  guides,  through  the  heart  of 
the  Dismal  Swamp.  Never  diverging  by  the  hundredth 
part  of  a  degree  for  morass,  jungle,  or  creek,  they  carried 
out  the  work  for  sixteen  weeks  to  a  scientific  and  legal 
conclusion,  deserving  and  receiving  therefor  high  com 
mendation  from  royal  and  colonial  governments. 

Colonel  Byrd  is  delineated  by  an  eloquent  annalist 
of  colonial  life  as  "  a  man  of  brilliant  wit,  of  high  cul 
ture  and  the  richest  humor,  a  Virginian  of  Virginians, 
and  the  perfect  flower  of  his  time."  Another  says, 
"  His  extensive  learning  was  improved  by  a  keen  obser 
vation,  and  refined  by  an  acquaintance  and  correspond 
ence  with  the  wits  and  noblemen  of  his  day  in  England." 
His  epitaph  informs  us  that  "  he  was  admitted  in  youth 
to  the  Bar  in  the  Middle  Temple,  visited  the  Court  of 
France,  and  was  chosen  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society ; 
that  he  was  Receiver-General  of  His  Majesty's  revenues 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  17 

in  Virginia,  thrice  appointed  public  agent  to  the  Court 
and  Ministry  of  England,  and,  being  thirty-seven  years 
a  member,  at  last  became  President  of  the  Council  of 
the  Colony." 

With  all  these — and  this  is  neither  the  season  iior 
place  for  recounting  how  much  more — he  was  more 
vain  of  the  project  which  had  recently  occurred  to 
him  of  preserving  in  permanent  form  the  history  of 
his  various  expeditions  in  the  New  World  than  of  his 
manifold  accomplishments  and  dignities.  He  collated 
his  records  under  the  caption  of  "  History  of  the 
Dividing  Line,  and  Other  Tracts."  These  "  Tracts" 
were  compiled  from  the  diary  he  never  failed  to  keep 
when  absent  from  home.  His  minutes  were  some 
times  jotted  down  in  cipher  upon  the  pommel  of  his 
saddle,  sometimes  pencilled  by  the  glare,  of  the  watch- 
fire  while  his  comrades  slept  upon  the  bare  ground 
about  him,  or  scribbled  in  wayside  hostelry  and  in  the 
finest  private  mansions  Virginia  could  boast.  Every 
scrap  was  jealously  treasured,  and  finally  committed 
to  his  secretary,  whose  skill  in  deciphering  the  least 
legible  of  the  discolored  fragments  was  no  mean 
recommendation  to  his  patron's  favor.  That  his 
position  as  scribe  was  not  a  sinecure  is  evident  from 
the  author's  critical  editing  of  the  carefully-written 

O  * 

pages. 

In  Colonel  JByrd's  absence,  Colin  Bass  prosecuted 
the  important  undertaking  with  what  looked  to  the 
bustling  mistress  like  dull  diligence. 

"  He  ticks  like  a  clock,"  she  had  complained  that 
morning  to  her  guest,  taking  no  pains  to  lower  her 
voice  while  she  drew  the  door  to  the  lock.  "  I'll  e'en 
b  2* 


18  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

shut  to  the  case  and  muffle  the  sound.  It  makes  my 
flesh  creep  and  my  eyes  snap." 

The  monotonous  scratching  was  sharply  audible  after 
the  chit-chat  of  the  matrons  ceased  and  their  footsteps 
died  away  in  different  directions.  The  scribe  wrote 
slowly  in  the  neat  chirography  modelled  upon  his  em 
ployer's,  forming  each  letter  with  equal  care,  and  not 
intermitting  the  labor  except  to  turn  the  loose  leaves  or 
to  substitute  another  for  the  scrap  just  copied.  At  the 
bottom  of  eacli  page  he  stopped  to  re-read  it,  rounding 
a  looped  letter  here,  dropping  a  comma  there,  crossing 
a  t  or  dotting  an  i,  then  setting  below  the  last  line  the 
word  with  which  the  next  page  was  to  begin.  He  was 
not  an  imaginative  man,  nor  was  there  the  slightest 
sign  of  nervous  expectation  in  eye  or  action,  yet  he  was 
moved  inwardly  by  a  consciousness  of  an  impending 
interruption,  and  a  disagreeable  one.  For  awhile  his 
strained  ears  heard  nothing  but  the  pleasant  murmur 
of  women's  voices  far  down  the  gravel  walk  leading 
away  from  the  house,  where  Mrs.  Carter  was  helping 
Evelyn  gather  fragrant  petals  for  Madam's  famous 
"  rose-jars;"  the  soft  "  hushings"  of  the  breeze,  rocking 
the  trees  to  sleep  upon  the  lawn  ;  the  twitter  and  whir 
of  a  bird  in  the  branches  nearest  his  window;  and, 
loudest  of  all,  the  rhythmic  amble  of  his  pen  from  left 
to  right  of  the  broad  page. 

The  man  whose  rebukeful  gaze  he  had  met  had  not 
left  the  library.  Had  he  crossed  the  floor,  or  so  much 
as  fluttered  the  pages  of  a  book,  the  secretary  believed 
that  he  must  have  heard  it  in  the  late-summer  silence 
of  hall  and  chambers. 

Yielding  at  length  to  an  uncontrollable  impulse,  he 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  19 

arose,  slipped  through  the  half-open  door,  without 
moving  it  on  the  hinges,  crept,  cat-like,  across  the  hall 
and  into  the  drawing-room  to  the  library  entrance. 

A  still  figure  sat  at  the  round  table  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  his  face  buried  in  his  hands. 

Colin  Bass  had  never  seen  the  courtly  rector  suc 
cumb  to  selfish  emotion.  He  knew  him  to  be  no  weak 
dreamer.  It  might  be  that  the  flash  in  the  dark  eyes 
that  had  pierced  his  conscious  soul  was  mere  surprise. 
Yet,  when  he  had  stolen  back  to  his  lair  and  labor,  he 
could  not  get  away  from  the  vision  of  that  bowed  form 
and  hidden  face  or  forbear  to  listen  for  the  something 
he  felt  was  coming. 

"  Ah-h-h  !"  The  pen  slipped  upon  the  curve  of  a 
capital  C  at  a  movement  in  the  library, — the  grating 
of  a  chair  upon  the  oaken  boards,  followed  by  a  pause, 
during  which  he  knew  that  the  rector  was  on  his  feet. 
Bass  rectified  the  crooked  curve  before  a  footfall  vi 
brated  upon  his  tense  tympanum.  His  jaw  squared, 
his  lips  straightened  as  the  door  was  pushed  back,  but 
his  eyes  were  cold  and  lustreless. 

"Good-day,  Mr.  Fontaine,"  he  said,  in  dryest  civil 
ity.  "  I  had  not  known  you  were  in  the  house  till 
I  chanced  to  see  you  in  the  mirror  over  there,  awhile 
ago/' 

His  accents  were  habitually  suave  to  his  superiors, — 
"  like  the  run  of  warm  treacle,"  Madam  had  declared. 
His  self-control  was  phenomenal,  and  the  intruder, 
aware  of  these  things,  could  not  have  been  unobservant 
of  the  latent  insolence  in  his  remark.  He  spoke  as  if 
he  had  not  noticed  it. 

"  Good-morrow,  Mr.  Bass.     Colonel  Byrd  requested 


20  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

me  to  look  in  upon  you  occasionally  during  his  ab 
sence- " 

"For  what  purpose,  may  I  inquire?"  without  wait 
ing  for  the  end  of  the  sentence. 

Something  in  the  little  episode  of  the  mirror  seemed 
to  have  brought  him  nearer  the  level  of  one  he  was 
wont  to  treat  as  of  higher  rank  than  himself.  In  his 
heart  uprose  malicious  exultation  such  as  greeted  the 
fallen  Lucifer.  The  polished  scholar,  the  reverend 
overlooker  of  three  aristocratic  parishes,  for  all  the 
strained  purity  of  his  Huguenot  blood  and  the  guards 
of  his  holy  office,  was  become  like  unto  him, — the 
abject  slave  of  a  woman  ! 

Mr.  Fontaine  regarded  him  in  tranquil  dignity. 

"  To  a  certainty,  not  because  he  is  not  fully  assured 
of  your  ability  and  industry,"  gravely  courteous.  "  But 
since  I  had  the  honor  of  bearing  my  little  part  in  the 
toils  of  the  expedition  whose  history  you  are  recording, 
he  did  me  the  further  honor,  this  morning,  of  asking 
me  to  review  such  pages  as  you  have  copied,  and  make 
minutes  of  any  errata  that  may  have  crept  into  them, 
in  spite  of  his  care  and  yours." 

"I  am  duly  grateful  for  the  condescension  that 
links  my  poor  name  and  endeavors  with  those  of  our 
patron,"  said  Bass,  rising,  with  an  overshow  of  defer 
ence.  "  Nevertheless,  had  I  aught  to  conceal  from 
him  or  from  you,  gratitude  would  not  blind  me  to  the 
indignity  of  espial.  Let  that  pass,  since  my  conscience 
is  clear.  May  it  please  you  to  note  Colonel  Byrd's 
pencilled  private  mark  at  the  foot  of  this  page,  show 
ing  that  he  had  inspected  my  manuscript  up  to  this 
point?  I  have  transcribed  to-day  four  pages — no 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  21 

more.  If  you  will  likewise  examine  these," — taking 
up  a  handful  of  creased  and  soiled  scraps,  apparently 
torn  from  a  note-book,  and  covered  with  hieroglyphics, 
— "you  will  see  that  the  task  was  not  easy.  With 
these  remarks,  which  I  pray  you  to  forgive,  I  resign 
my  chair  and  table  to  yon." 

The  ostentatious  servility  of  the  pretended  apology 
brought  to  the  listener's  eye  the  spark  his  rudeness  had 
not  kindled. 

"  '  Patron'  and  { espial'  are  words  that  hardly  belong 
to  a  land  and  generation  where  and  when  all  gentle 
men  of  birth  and  breeding  are  equals,"  returned  Mr. 
Fontaine,  with  no  other  show  of  temper.  "  Colonel 
Byrd  is  my  friend  and  parishioner,  whom  I  respect 
too  much  not  to  seek  some  more  auspicious  season  for 
complying  with  his  request." 

A  sneer  went  over  the  secretary's  smug  visage,  be 
lying  the  travesty  of  obsequiousness  lie  chose  to  main 
tain. 

"I  beg  you  to  believe,  sir,  that  one  season  with  me 
is  as  another.  In  the  words  of  the  Book  most  familiar 
to  you,  I  am  as  one  who  watches  for  his  lord.  I  can, 
however,  comprehend  the  impatience  of  a  member  of 
the  favored  order  for  whom  sunshine  and  roses  are 
created,  and  who  recollects  that  neither  lasts  forever." 

A  meaning  glance  out  of  the  window  pointed  the 
innuendo.  The  dark  cheek  of  the  clergyman  burned. 
He  had  reached  the  door,  but  wheeled  abruptly  and 
took  a  step  toward  the  speaker.  Bass  faced  him  as 
quickly,  and  the  two  stood  at  bay,  looking  into  each 
other's  eyes,  and  through  these,  for  the  instant,  un 
guarded  gates,  into  one  another's  souls. 


22  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Fontaine  was  the  first  to  speak.  Tone  and  smile 
were  totally  unlike  anything  Bass  had  ever  beheld 
before  in  the  master  of  himself  and  men  : 

"  I  am  your  debtor  in  that  you  have  reminded  me 
of  my  devoir  and  my  privilege,"  he  uttered  in  ironical 
distinctness.  "The  wise  man  is  he  who  sees  Provi 
dence  in  Opportunity." 

He  bowed,  closed  the  door  with  intention  after  him, 
and  went  out  with  agile  step  and  head  erect  into  the 
sunshine. 

"  He  also  shuts  the  case  !"  soliloquized  the  secretary, 
a  white,  wrung  smile  upon  the  countenance  just  now 
so  stolid.  "  When  the  clock  strikes,  they  will  hear  it 
all  over  the  house,  whether  they  will  or  no !" 

Each  entry  of  the  journal  kept  during  the  survey 
of  the  Dividing  Line  was  dated.  "  March  24,  1728," 
was  the  last  written  by  the  copyist  before  the  entrance 
of  the  unwelcome  visitor.  He  finished  the  section 
mechanically  : 

"  The  Truth  was  they  now  knew  the  worst  of  it, 
and  cou'd  guess  pretty  near  at  the  Time  when  thev 
might  hope  to  return  to  Land  again." 

Automatic  as  was  the  action  of  one-quarter  of  the 
scribe's  brain,  the  words  awoke  him  to  a  sense  of  their 
odd  parity  with  the  operation  of  the  rapt  other  three- 
fourths  of  him.  The  pallid  glimmer  revisited  his  face. 

"  I  know  the  worst,"  he  said,  aloud.  "  But  do  I 
care  to  return  to  the  Land  I  have  left  ?" 

It  was  fully  ten  minutes  before  he  began  to  decipher 
the  next  loose  leaf: 

"The  Air  was  chilled  this  Morning  with  a  Smart 
Northwest  Wind  which  favour'd  the  Dismalites  in  their 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  23 

Dirty  March.  They  returned  by  the  Path  they  had 
made  in  coming  out,  and,  with  great  Industry,  arriv'd 
in  the  Evening  at  the  Spot  where  the  Line  had  been 
discontinued. 

"After  so  long  and  laborious  a  Journey  they  were 
glad  to  repose  themselves  upon  their  couches  of  Cypress- 
bark  where  their  sleep  was  as  sweet  as  it  wou'd  have 
been  on  a  Bed  of  Finland  Down." 

Over  against  this  record  the  secretary,  his  eyes 
fiercely  vacant  with  pain,  and  his  fingers  clammily 
glued  to  the  quill,  inscribed  "  1729,  March  25."  It 
was  the  date  on  which  he,  a  gawky  country  lad,  lowly- 
born  and  lowly-bred,  had  taken  service  with  the  master 
of  Westover.  In  reviewing  the  page,  the  blunder 
caused  by  his  moody  abstraction  was  unperceived,  and, 
still  wrapped  in  his  own  thoughts,  he  began  the  next 
record  with  the  same  date,  carrying  it  forward  to  the 
close  of  the  "  Tract."  Strangely  enough,  the  anachro 
nism  escaped  the  eye  of  the  august  author,  and  stands 
thus  to  the  present  hour. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  first  Byrd  who  emigrated  to  America — yclept 
William  the  First  in  family  papers  and  talk — bought 
in  1674,  from  Theodorick  Bland  or  his  heirs,  the  finest 
building-site  upon  James  River.  The  plantation  of 
Westover  is  mentioned  in  colonial  annals  half  a  cen 
tury  earlier,  but  it  came  into  prominence  under  the 


24  HI*   GREAT  SELF. 

regime  of  the  first  Byrd,  and  into  eminence  among 
colonial  houses  under  the  administration  of  the  second 
and  greatest  of  the  name, — Colonel  William  Evelyn 
Byrd. 

After  his  father's  death  and  the  beginning  of  his 
own  permanent  residence  in  Virginia,  he  enlarged  the 
house  erected  by  his  predecessor,  and  made  mansion 
and  grounds  worthy  of  his  taste  and  wealth.  The 
central  building  of  English  brick  was  joined  to  the 
wings  by  corridors,  and  underrun  by  cellars  that  were 
models  of  stolidity  and  spaciousness.  The  sloping 
lawn  was  defended  against  the  current  and  periodical 
freshets  by  a  river-wall  of  massive  masonry.  At  reg 
ular  intervals  buttresses,  capped  with  stone,  supported 
life-sized  statues  of  mythological  deities,  fauns,  and 

»  o  / 

dryads.  Gardens,  fences,  out-houses,  and  conservato 
ries,  fashioned  after  European  designs,  were  the  marvel 
of  the  colony,  and  won  the  admiration  of  travellers 
from  older  lands. 

The  sward  rolling  gently  from  house  to  river  was 
smooth  and  luxuriant,  dotted  with  grand  trees  standing 
singly  or  in  clumps.  At  the  right  and  the  left  of  the 
broad  flight  of  squared  stone  steps  a  tulip-poplar  flung 
out,  on  this  early  autumn  day,  danger-signals  of  ap 
proaching  frost  to  the  double  line  of  trees  bordering 
the  sweep  of  gravelled  walk  connecting  the  iron  gates 
on  each  side  of  the  lawn.  The  river — singularly  clear 
for  the  tawny  James,  by  reason  of  infrequent  up-coun 
try  rains — danced  and  shimmered  in  the  sunshine; 
grasshoppers  sang  in  the  turf  regardless  of  the  beacon- 
fires  burning  here  and  there  upon  maple  and  poplar ; 
butterflies  and  humming-birds  swam  and  swooped 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  25 

above  the  roses.  The  air  was  bland,  languorous,  and 
laden  almost  to  excess  with  rose-scent, — the  September 
blossoming  that  often  exceeds  in  abundance  and  beauty 
that  of  June. 

As  Pierre  Fontaine  emerged  from  the  hall-door  and 
halted  upon  the  stone  platform,  the  sweet  waves  brought 
ecstasy  to  his  senses,  enticing  fancies  to  his  imagination. 
He  was  man  as  well  as  priest;  he  was  young,  and 
youth  will  have  its  day.  Without  tracing  the  feel 
ing  to  the  origin  Madam  Byrd  had  frankly  given,  he, 
too,  was  conscious  of  a  sense  of  larger  liberty  in  the 
absence  of  the  masterful  lord  of  the  manor.  The  will 
and  energy  that  had  created  and  kept  up  the  paradise 
that  lay  about  the  beholder,  an  Eden  the  fairer  for 
encompassing  wilds,  impressed  the  owner's  personality 
upon  all  whom  he  encountered.  His  rule  of  household 
and  community  might  be  wise,  and,  when  not  opposed, 
benignant;  but  it  was  despotism,  clear  and  simple,  the 
more  absolute  because  of  his  acknowledged  superiority  in 
talent,  learning,  and  accomplishments  to  his  associates. 
His  regard  for  his  chaplain  was  sincere ;  his  fondness 
for  his  society  undisguised,  and  to  a  vainer  man  would 
have  been  nattering.  Nothing  could  have  been  further 
removed  from  sycophancy  or  slavish  constraint  than 
the  clergyman's  bearing  towards  the  seignior  of  West- 
over.  He  said  and  he  felt  that  companionship  with 
such  a  mind  was  a  continual  education,  a  boon  for 
which  he  could  not  be  too  grateful ;  that  conversation 
with  him,  whom  he  had  proudly  called  "  friend  and 
parishioner,"  brought  out  what  was  worthiest  from  his 
own  mental  store. 

Still,  in  strolling  between  the  rose-hedges  towards 

B  8 


26  II IS   GREAT  SELF. 

the  white-robed  figures  he  descried  at  the  end  of  the 
vista,  he  took  in  deep  draughts  of  intoxicating  incense 
warmed  and  spiced  by  the  sun,  and  felt  more  light  of 
heart,  more  eager  of  desire,  than  he  had  for  many  a 
long  day.  He  put  from  him  the  thought  of  the  inter 
view  which  had  strangely  ruffled  his  spirit  as  easily  as 
he  brushed  away  a  bumblebee  that  droned  too  near  his 
ear.  This  was  not  a  day  in  which  to  heed  the  buzz  of 
insects.  The  world  was  wide  and  life  was  beautiful. 

The  result  of  Mrs.  Carter's  and  Evelyn's  work 
verified  Madam  Byrd's  boast  of  "  bushels  of  rose- 
leaves."  The  baskets  into  which  the  ladies  gathered 
them  had  been  emptied,  as  they  were  filled,  into  a 
hamper  set  in  the  middle  of  the  walk,  and  at  Mr. 
Fontaine's  approach  Evelyn  was  stooping  over  this, 
pressing  down  the  contents  to  make  room  for  other 
relays.  Her  shepherdess-hat  had  fallen  back,  and 
hung  from  the  ribbon  caught  under  her  chin ;  her 
cheeks  glowed  with  the  reflected  blush  of  the  damask 
petals  in  which  her  arms  were  sunk  to  the  elbow  ;  her 
eyes  danced  with  fun. 

"  You  are  just  in  time  to  take  this  to  the  still-room  !" 
she  called,  gayly.  "  Now,  Mrs.  Carter,  pour  the  rest 
in,  and  let  him  have  all !" 

For  answer,  her  friend  turned  both  baskets  upside- 
down  over  the  girl's  head,  veiling  her  with  the  rosy 
rain. 

"  Danae — with  a  difference!"  said  Fontaine,  as  she 
issued  from  the  flood,  laughing  and  shaking  her  head 
to  free  her  curls  from  clinging  petals.  "  Let  me  do 
that!"  stepping  forward  when  she  would  have  collected 
with  her  scooped  hands  a  heap  from  the  gravel. 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  27 

Restoring  the  roses  by  double-handfuls  to  the  hamper, 
lie  stayed  Evelyn  as  she  was  tossing  in  more.  "  Wait ! 
I  am  sure  I  espied  the  glitter  of  gold  !"  he  said,  dipping 
his  fingers  gingerly  into  the  scented  mass  and  burrow 
ing  watchfully. 

"Danae — without  much  difference  after  all?"  queried 
Mrs.  Carter,  roguishly. 

Both  women  eyed  him  in  lively  curiosity  as  he  poured 
the  petals  back  into  a  smaller  basket,  and  finally  abruptly 
reversed  the  hamper  upon  the  short  turf. 

"  Let  us  hope  that  you  will  always  choose  to  do  the 
right  thing,"  bantered  Evelyn,  seeing  him  separate  petal 
from  petal.  "  You  will  never  swerve Oh  !" 

With  the  stifled  scream  she  snatched  a  chainlet  of 
gold  hanging  from  his  finger.  Her  hand  went  hurriedly 
up  to  her  throat,  and  fumbled  among  the  muslin  folds 
covering  her  bosom. 

"  Look  further  !"  she  panted,  pale  as  a  ghost.  "  I 
have  lost  something  else  !" 

She  went  down  upon  her  knees  on  one  side  of  the 
pile,  Mrs.  Carter,  wondering  and  sympathetic,  upon  the 
other,  and,  assisted  by  Mr.  Fontaine,  they  sifted  the 
roses  with  anxious  assiduity,  until  all  were  back  in  the 
hamper. 

"  It  is  not  there !"  breathed  Evelyn  in  a  frightened 
whisper.  "I  have  dropped  it!  I  do  not  know  when 
or  where  !  What  shall  I  do  ?" 

"  What  is  it,  dear  ?  Something  of  value  ?"  asked  her 
friend. 

A  rush  of  crimson  throbbed  into  the  blanched  cheeks, 
the  fingers  clutched  the  chain  more  tightly. 

"  I  have  had  it  this  great  while.     It  is  a  locket — a 


28  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

little  one — with  my  mother's  hair  and Hush  !  pray 

not  a  word !" 

She  hid  the  chain  in  her  bosom,  as  down  the  walk 
sailed  Madam  Byrd,  her  trim  waist  begirt  with  a 
voluminous  white  apron,  her  sleeves  pinned  back  to  her 
shoulders, — in  short,  in  housewifely  battle-array.  As 
soon  as  she  was  within  speaking  distance,  she  opened  fire. 

"Had  I  guessed  that  the  church  was  pressed  into 
service,  I  might  have  waited  more  contentedly  for  my 
harvest.  I  hope  your  reverence  has  blessed  it  with  bell 
and  with  book,  to  warrant  the  leaves  against  shrinking 
or  running  to  water?  If  the  ceremony  be  over,  I  will 
begin  the  work  that  has  hung  upon  my  hands  these  three 
hours  or  more." 

Evelyn  laughed  nervously. 

"  Dear  mamma  !  it  is  not  yet  quite  an  hour  since  we 
talked  with  you  in  the  hall,  and  see  what  we  have  ! 
An  accident  befell  the  roses,  too.  The  hamper  was 
overset,  and  we  have  but  just  gathered  up  the  spoils 
with  Mr.  Fontaine's  help.  He  will  bear  them  in  for 
you." 

"  That  will  he  not !"  protested  the  dame.  "  No  or 
dained  minister  of  the  Word  shall  be  beast  of  burden 
upon  my  premises  while  a  score  of  lazy  servants  eat  my 
bread  and  drink  my  cider." 

She  blew  into  a  silver  whistle  that  had  dangled  from 
a  chain  of  the  same  material  at  her  girdle,  together  with 
a  pair  of  silver-handled  scissors  and  a  silver  nutmeg- 
grater.  A  mulatto  lad  in  the  Byrd  livery  appeared 
with  alacrity  that  bespoke  strict  training,  hoisted  the 
light  weight  to  his  head  and  bore  it  through  a  side-gate 
into  the  house. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  29 

Mrs.  Carter  gave  Evelyn  an  expressive  look  behind 
her  mother's  shoulder. 

"You  will  suffer  me  to  see  how  you  make  your  in 
comparable  pot-pourri,  won't  you  ?"  she  said,  coaxingly. 
"  Either  the  Shirley  roses  are  not  so  sweet  as  yours,  or 
I  fall  far  short  of  your  skill.  By  the  time  my  rose-jars 
have  been  stocked  for  a  month  they  might  as  well  be 
filled  with  dried  currants.  Colonel  Carter  will  have  it 
that  they  smell  like  mince-pie.  And,  while  we  are  in 
the  still-room,  perhaps  you  will  let  me  copy  your 
receipt " 

The  rest  was  lost  in  the  distance  as  the  matrons 
walked  amicably  together  to  the  small  gate,  through  it, 
and  around  the  corner  of  the  house. 

Evelyn  heaved  a  hysterical  sigh. 

"  I  seem  but  a  foolish  creature  to  you,  Mr.  Fon 
taine/'  the  slight  foreign  accent  giving  pathetic  pre 
cision  to  her  speech.  "  But  I  am  sore  bestead.  If  I 
should  not  find  my  locket ;  if  some  one  has  picked  it 
up "  a  gesture  of  intensest  uneasiness  said  the  rest. 

"  We  will  look  for  it  at  once,  and  so  diligently  that 
nobody  can  forestall  us,"  said  Fontaine,  confident  and 
cheery.  "  It  may  have  been  wrenched  from  the  chain 
by  a  rose-tree.  If  you  will  take  one  side  of  the  alley 
and  I  the  other,  there  is  no  fear  lest  it  should  not  come 
to  light.  Will  the  hamper  return?  Must  all  the 
roses  be  harvested  to-day  ?" 

She  could  not  but  smile  at  his  whimsical  alarm. 

"Only  those  that  are  in  fullest  bloom.  Even  the 
pot-pourri  maker  has  compassion  upon  the  buds  and 

half-blown.       But,   by   to-morrow "  shaking   her 

head  in  mournful  significance. 

3* 


30  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

Her  habit  of  supplementing  words  by  action  was 
among  the  ''French  tricks"  reprobated  by  her  step 
mother  and  admired  by  the  men,  in  whose  sight  they 
were  another  and  a  maddening  grace. 

"  Your  study-door  is  bewitched,  colonel,"  his  wife 
had  said  yesterday.  "The  blacksmith  swears  there  is 
nought  amiss  with  the  lock.  Yet,  close  it  when  I  may 
on  some  days,  it  clicks  open  at  its  will  without  the  aid 
of  hands.  Again,  and  oftentimes,  it  must  be  wrought 
upon  and  wrenched  before  it  will  yield." 

"  Then,  my  dear  Lady  Maria,  you  must  work 
a  countercharm  and  shame  locksmith  and  devil  by 
your  wiser  witchery,"  the  gallant  spouse  had  made 
reply. 

Afterward,  and  not  in  her  hearing,  he  had  bidden 
Colin  Bass,  "see  that  the  latch  is  righted,  or  have  a 
new  one  made." 

Reminded  of  the  commission  by  the  mysterious  click, 
which  for  the  third  time  that  forenoon  undid  the  door 
of  the  "  clock-case,"  the  secretary  got  up,  with  an  ejacu 
lation  of  profane  disgust,  and  began  the  examination  of 
the  offending  bolt.  While  working  it  up  and  down,  he 
became  carelessly  conscious  that  Lady  Bess,  having  had 
her  nap  out,  was  chattering  to  herself,  still  lying  on  the 
settle.  Upon  his  appearance,  she  accosted  him  affably. 
Although  not  four  years  old,  the  "little  fairy"  had 
many  and  individual  opinions,  and  was  fluent  in 
expressing  them. 

"Does  'oo  want  to  loot  at  mine  p'itty  bofe  ?"  she 
said  to  him,  as  the  only  auditor  in  sight.  And,  at  the 
churlish  silence  of  a  bachelor  to  whom  all  minors  were 
cubs,  she  persisted,  in  a  louder  key,  "Say,  turn  an'  'ook 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  31 

at  mine  p'itty  bofe,  dis  tninnit.  If  'oo  don't,  I'll  holler 
—youd  I" 

Bass  shot  a  glance  at  her  in  time  to  see  the  bauble 
slip  from  her  grasp  to  the  floor  and  the  sparkle  of 
jewels  as  it  fell.  He  picked  it  up  without  other  pur 
pose  than  to  rescue  a  valuable  from  the  infant  bar 
barian  who  had  probably  stolen  it  from  her  mother's 
jewel-chest. 

"  Isn't  it  boo'ful?"  said  Lady  Bess,  gratified  by  his 
practical  interest  in  her  prize. 

Bass  turned  it  over  in  his  hand.  It  was  an  oval 
medallion,  less  than  two  inches  long,  of  wrought  gold, 
encrusted  with  diamonds  and  hinged  at  the  back.  His 
deft  fingers  quickly  detected  the  hidden  spring,  and  the 
opening  ca.se  revealed  a  miniature,  painted  upon  ivory, 
of  a  young  man  in  the  uniform  of  the  Royal  Guards. 
In  the  chased  gold  band  encircling  the  portrait  and 
below  the  face  was  enamelled  the  legend,  "  J'attends." 
Opposite  the  miniature,  under  glass,  were  intertwined 
a  lock  of  golden  hair  and  one  of  dark  brown,  almost 
black. 

Without  other  suspicion  of  the  ownership  of  the 
trinket  than  that  it  probably  belonged  in  the  Carter 
family,  Bass  looked  again,  and  closely,  at  the  pictured 
face.  It  was  comely,  he  decided,  and  patrician.  Be 
cause  it  was  both,  he  considered  it  coxcombical ;  but  as 
a  painting  it  was  exquisitely  executed,  although  so 
minute. 

"Dive  it  to  me,  p'ease !"  importuned  Bess.  "It  is 
Yady  Bess's  p'itty  sing  !" 

"  It  is  none  of  yours,"  retorted  Bass,  roughly.  "  And 
I  shall  keep  it !"" 


32  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Lady  Bess  was  angelic  when   with    angels.     If  her 

•/  o  o 

wings  were  rubbed  the  wrong  way,  she  shed  them  with 
diabolical  celerity.  Bass,  who  knew  little,  and  cared 
less  for  children,  was  unprepared  for  her  next  move 
ment,  which  was  to  spring  to  her  feet  upon  the  settle, 
and  launch  herself  upon  him  like  a  shrieking  cata 
pult.  Instinctively  casting  the  hand  containing  the 
miniature  behind  him,  he  reeled  and  staggered  several 
paces.  At  the  shock  of  the  cherub's  onslaught,  the 
locket  flew  from  his  hold.  He  heard  it  strike  the 
floor  and  skim  along  the  polished  boards  to  the  front 
door. 

Bess  had  fastened  upon  his  lappels  and  ruffled  shirt- 
front.  In  shaking  her  loose,  an  action  performed  with 
the  vigor  and  despatch  he  would  have  used  in  ridding 
his  person  of  a  wild  cat,  he  left  long  strings  of  cambric 
in  her  claws.  The  noise  brought  her  maid  from  the 

O 

upper  story.  In  common  with  the  Westover  negroes, 
and  her  class  generally,  Sally  despised  the  hireling 
whose  one  advantage  above  herself  lay  in  the  lack  of 
coloring-matter  in  his  skin.  Her  outcry  and  rush 
toward  her  afflicted  nurseling  were  dramatic  and 
insolent  : 

"  For  de  love  o'  heaven,  what  you  bin  do  to  her, 
now  ?" 

He  had  never,  to  his  knowledge,  touched  the  dreadful 
infant  before,  but  disdained  to  repel  the  insinuation. 
Bess  rolled  over  on  the  floor,  eluding  the  nurse's  arms, 
and  grabbed  his  ankle  when  he  would  have  retired  in 
dignified  reserve  to  his  study. 

"  Dimme  mine  bofe  /  Tafe  it  f'om  him,  raamruy ! 
He  toot  mine  boo'ful  sins: !" 


-   HIS   GREAT  SELF.  33 

Bass  shook  his  leg  impatiently,  and  the  negress  caught 
up  the  writhing  child. 

"  Fo'  de  Lawd,  ef  you  had  V  dared  to  kick  'er,  I'd 
V  tored  you'  low-lived  eyes  out,  ef  I  had  'a'  swung  for 
hit !"  she  snapped  at  him,  and  carried  her  screaming 
charge  off,  answering  her  kicks  and  her  wails  for  her 
"  bots"  with  adjurations  "  not  to  have  nuthin'  ter  do  wid 
nobody  but  reel  gen'man  'n'  ladies!  Mammy  would 
give  her  a  sugar-cake,  so  she  'ould  !" 

Yells  and  soothings  were  deadened  by  the  flooring  of 
the  upper  chambers,  and  the  secretary,  smiling  evilly, 
looked  about  him  for  the  lost  bauble.  He  was  not 
interested  in  restoring  it  to  Mrs.  Carter,  but  knowledge 
of  the  value  of  the  gems  moved  him  to  search  in 
corners,  on  the  steps  and  gravel-walks  without,  whither 
&  smart  ricochet  might  have  carried  it.  It  had  vanished 
as  utterly  as  if  Lady  Bess  had  swallowed  it  at  her  first 
howl.  The  circumstance  was  odd,  but  not  disquieting. 
Should  inquiry  be  instituted  for  the  locket,  he  had  the 
choice  of  telling  the  truth, — or,  what  he  would  prefer, 
holding  his  tongue.  The  gibberish  of  the  baby-pur- 
loiner  could  not  convict  him  as  a  receiver  of  stolen 
goods. 

Nobody  was  in  sight  from  the  front-door.  The  rose- 
pickers  whom  he  expected  to  see  were  not  at  work  or 
visible  ;  but  a  monstrous  gobbler,  the  Anak  of  his  race, 
reared  and  domesticated  by  Evelyn  Byrd  from  a  wild 
chick  trapped  with  the  mother  in  the  forest,  strutted 
along  the  walk,  picking  tentatively  at  pebbles.  He 
stiffened  his  drooping  red  cockade  at  Bass's  approach, 
ruffled  every  feather,  put  up  a  vast  semicircle  of  tail, 
and  emitted  a  hoarse  "  gobble — gobble — gobble  !" 


34  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Bass  laughed  outright. 

"You  may  have  got  it!  Then  it's  safe  enough  until 
Christmas.  I'll  keep  my  eye  on  you,  my  fine  fellow." 

The  conceit  of  the  possible  lodgement  of  miniature 
and  diamonds  in  the  turkey's  craw  or  gizzard,  or  in 
whatever  other  cranny  of  his  anatomical  apparatus  he 
stored  gravel-stones  and  the  like,  appealed  so  forcibly  to 
his  peculiar  sense  of  humor  that  he  stayed  his  pen  more 
than  once  that  day  to  chuckle  over  it.  Whatever  had 
become  of  the  ornament,  the  affair  did  not  concern  him 
personally,  and  it  was  not  in  his  line  to  disquiet  himself 
in  vain  over  other  people's  business. 

Evelyn's  tedious  and  futile  quest  for  her  lost  treasure 
was  interrupted  by  the  second  appearance  of  the  mulatto 
in  livery.  Her  step-mother  required  her  attendance  in 
the  still-room. 

Fontaine's  heart  beat  fast  and  warm  at  her  mute,  dis 
mayed  appeal  to  himself. 

"I  shall  seek  until  it  is  found,"  he  answered  her. 
a  Unless  the  earth  has  opened  her  mouth  and  swallowed 
it  up,  you  shall  have  it  within  the  hour.  Trust  me." 

"I  do  trust  you — always!"  coloring  vividly  in  the 
pause  severing  the  emphatic  phrase. 

The  solid  earth  quaked  under  the  lover's  feet  as  she 
flitted  away.  Rose-scent,  bird-song,  the  wind's  wooing 
whisper  to  the  trees ;  mellowed  sunshine  and  flashing 
river — the  knowledge  of  all  these  made  harmonious 
ripples  in  a  great  tide  that  lifted  his  soul  and  swept 
his  senses  into  a  sea  of  rapture. 

"I  do — always!"  Faithful  echoes  rang  melodious 
changes  upon  the  words.  Had  she  lingered  one  instant 
longer,  the  hidden  stream  of  love  must  have  burst 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  35 

bounds  in  passionate  speech.  He  murmured  delirious 
phrases  of  endearment,  of  hope,  of  longing  to  him 
self  as  he  walked,  ungratefully  forgetful  of  the  mission 
he  had  undertaken,  uutil  brought  rudely  back  to  earth 
by  the  angry  scream  of  a  child. 

It  proceeded  from  the  open  front-door  up  to  which 
he  had  strayed.  Glancing  that  way,  he  espied  the 
blaze  of  what  looked  like  a  live  coal  upon  the  sunny 
steps.  With  one  bound  he  secured  it,  and,  without 
look  or  thought  for  the  animated  tableau  in  the  hall, 
hurried  in  the  direction  of  the  still-room. 


CHAPTER   III. 

MADAM  BYRD'S  still-room  was  as  famous  in  the 
mouths  of  her  sister-housewives  as  were  her  lord's 
gardens,  stables,  and  fields  among  his  fellow-planters. 
It  was  a  long,  low-ceiled  apartment  in  the  left  wing 
of  the  house.  Two  windows  overlooked  the  river;  a 
wide-mouthed  fireplace  at  one  end  was  fitted  up  with 
cranes  and  pot-hooks,  for  here  pickling,  preserving, 
and  potting  were  done  under  Madam's  supervision. 
The  products  of  her  skill  crowded  cupboards  that 
reached  from  floor  to  ceiling  on  one  side  of  the  room, 
and  were  protected  by  locked  glass  doors.  The  front 
wall  was  lined  with  open  shelves  filled  with  empty  jars 
and  gallipots  of  delf  and  china  awaiting  their  contents. 
At  that  early  epoch  of  Virginia  housewifery  the  mis 
tress  appreciated  the  necessity  of  keeping  delicacies, 


36  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

particularly  sweets,  under  lock  and  key.  Madam's 
key-basket  was  never  two  feet  away  from  her,  day  or 
night.  When  she  went  abroad  or  to  church,  she 
locked  it  up  in  her  wardrobe  and  carried  the  key  of 
the  wardrobe  in  her  pocket. 

A  table  ten  feet  long  and  three  in  width  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor.  The  deal  top,  white  from  assidu 
ous  scourings,  was  half-concealed  by  a  fair  linen  cloth, 
on  which  the  harvest  of  rose-leaves  was  piled.  Madam, 
enveloped  in  a  snowy  apron,  the  ruffled  bib  touching 
her  rounded  chin,  was  taking  these  up  singly  and 
dropping  them  into  a  big  jar  beside  her,  the  mouth 
being  on  a  level  with  the  table-top. 

Mrs.  Carter,  at  her  ease  in  a  rocking-chair,  surveyed 
the  process  in  amused  admiration. 

"/  heave  mine  in  by  the  peck,"  she  confessed. 

"  What  is  worth  doing  at  all  is  worthy  of  well 
doing,"  rejoined  the  hostess,  pithily  superior. 

"  But  there  are  millions  of  them,  dear  Madam  Byrd. 
It  must  require  an  eternity  to  take  them  up  one  by 
one." 

"  Eternity,  as  well  as  time,  is  most  wisely  spent  in 
the  right  performance  of  duty,"  rebuked  the  flippant 
criticism.  "  Evelyn,  child  !"  as  her  step-daughter  en 
tered,  "  I  sent  for  you  half  an  hour  ago.  'Tis  said  to 
be  the  nature  of  young  blood  to  be  hot  and  hasty. 
I'm  sure  'tis  the  nature  of  young  limbs  to  move  slow. 
But  one  might  suppose  you  had  run  a  mile  from  the 
way  you  pant  and  your  color  comes  and  goes.  The 
heat  should  not  affect  you  who  were  born  here  so  much 
more  than  me  who  have  lived  in  Virginia  scarce  ten 
years." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  37 

"  You  sent  for  me,  mamma?" 

Evelyn,  resting  the  finger-tips  of  one  hand  lightly 
on  the  table,  and  raising  the  other  involuntarily  to  her 
throat  as  if  to  steady  her  respiration,  waited  for  com 
mands.  She  knew  her  step-mother,  and  the  necessity 
laid  upon  the  exemplary  matron  to  "  have  her  talk  out" 
when  talk  seethed  within  her. 

"  Of  a.  certainty  I  sent  for  you,  or  you  had  not  come. 
I  marvel  you  will  waste  the  life  of  an  immortal  being 
in  asking  needless  questions.  Here's  Mrs.  Carter  who 
has  asked,  at  the  least,  twenty  times  to  have  two  or 
three  trifles  copied  for  her  from  the  Westover  receipt- 
book,  and  she  still  goes  a-begging.  Sit  you  down  over 
there  at  the  table,  out  of  the  way  of  the  roses.  Caliban  ! 
will  you  stand  grinning  all  the  day  and  never  set  a 
chair  for  your  Mistress  Evelyn  !" 

Evelyn  took  the  seat  the  lad  hastened  to  bring,  drew 
to  her  the  standish,  paper,  and  pen  ready  for  her  use, 
and  opened  a  book  bound  in  worn  sheep-skin.  The 
leaves  were  dog-eared  and  spotted  in  sundry  places,  and 
the  ragged  ones  had  been  mended  by  pasting  a  margin 
of  stout  paper  along  the  edges. 

"  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  oblige  Mrs.  Carter,"  said 
the  young  lady,  politely.  "  Where  am  I  to  begin  ?" 

"  What  a  flurry  you  are  in !  One  might  fancy 
Hercules's  tasks  were  appointed  unto  you,  and  all  to 
be  done  in  a  day." 

Madam's  mood  was  not  sweetened  by  her  occupation. 

"Mrs.  Carter  would  like  to  know  how  the  Westover 
wine  is  made;  and  it  wouldn't  be  amiss  to  add  to  that 
Mrs.  Ot way's  receipts  for  clary  and  sherry  wine,  and 
Mrs.  Shut's  receipt  for  birch  wine, — though  that  she 

4 


38  #/S   GREAT  SELF. 

will  not  need  till  March,  and  we  may  all  be  in  our 
graves  by  then.  Life  in  a  new  country  is  ever  uncer 
tain.  But  there's  Mrs.  Blackiston's  receipt  for  elder 
wine,  and  the  berries  are  black  as  sloes  this  very  hour. 
Or,  stay,"  as  Evelyn  dipped  her  pen  in  ink,  "  Bass 
can  copy  those  in  plainer  hand  than  yours.  It  passes 
me  that  you've  never  rubbed  the  French  accent  off 
your  pen  any  more  than  off  your  tongue.  I'll  get 
Colin  at  those  receipts  before  he's  a  day  older.  What 
he  can't  do,  and  what  you  can, — the  Lord  knows  there're 
not  many  things, — is  to  write  down  in  English,  mind 
you,  the  first  Mrs.  Byrd's  receipt  for  making  portable 
soup/' 

Evelyn  turned  the  battered  leaves  without  change  of 
expression  from  the  pale  abstraction  that  nettled  her 
step-mother  into  a  harangue  which  made  the  visitor  un 
comfortable.  The  girl  was  as  used  to  the  sleety  patter 
of  the  tongue,  under — if  not  in — which  was  the  law  of 
kindness,  as  to  the  tapping  of  the  pigeons'  feet  upon  the 
slated  roof  of  the  still-room.  Their  cote  was  hard  by, 
and  they  courted  and  quarrelled  incessantly  upon  the 
sun-warmed  area  during  summer  days. 

" '  Duchesse  ofLorreign's  Receipt  for  Making  Soupe,' " 
she  read  aloud,  impassively  docile.  "Is  it  that  you 
wish  me  to  copy  ?" 

"  Surely,  girl !  Have  I  not  said  it  six  times  within 
the  past  ten  minutes?  I  wonder  what  you  dream  of 
that  you  never  hear  a  word  I  say  !  Did  not  I  instruct 
you  in  the  plainest  language  to  copy  that  receipt,  I 
having  no  faith  in  Bass's  knowledge  of  French? 
Though  there's  your  father,  who  will  have  it  that 
Solomon  was  but  a  babe  in  long  clothes  compared  with 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  39 

his  secretary's  wisdom.  You  may  have  heard,  Mrs. 
Carter, — for  idle  talk  travels  far, — that  Colonel  Byrd 
was  named  'The  Black  Swan'  by  certain  lively  fellows 
among  the  younger  nobility  in  London  because  of  his 
prodigious  learning  and  polite  accomplishments,  so  far 
exceeding — they  were  pleased  to  say — those  of  other 
native-born  Americans  who  visited  the  Mother  Country. 
I  rally  the  colonel  upon  the  saying,  now  and  then,  tell 
ing  him  he  should  pass  on  the  title  to  the  cygnet  he 
lias  discovered  among  the  ducks  of  the  lower  James. 
'Tis  amazing  the  trust  he  puts  in  one  who,  to  my  way 
of  thinking,  has  little  sprightliness  and  less  wit." 

Mrs.  Carter  was  spared  the  necessity  of  passing 
judgment  upon  the  comparative  justice  of  husband's 
and  wife's  views  as  to  the  secretary's  endowments  by 
the  housewife's  digressive  orders  to  Caliban  to  go  on 
with  his  task  of  crushing  with  a  rolling-pin  upon  a 
board  the  salt  for  the  pot-pourri.  The  guest  was  more 
interested  in  the  taciturn  step-daughter  than  in  the 
matron's  dissertations.  Evelyn  wrote  fitfully, — now 
fast,  now  lingeringly,  glancing  toward  the  front  win 
dows  at  the  end  of  each  line.  There  was  a  plait  of 
care  or  anxiety  between  her  brows,  a  heaviness  about 
the  broad-lidded  eyes,  an  air  of  expectation  in  form  and 
feature,  assumed  by  the  neighbor  to  be  certain  indices 
that  the  locket  containing  her  mother's  hair  had  not 
been  found.  Why  the  loss  was  not  to  be  named  to  the 
sensible  second  wife,  who  spoke  openly  and  without 
jealous  disrespect  of  the  "  first  Mrs.  Byrd,"  and  had 
set  Evelyn  to  translate  a  recipe  from  the  original  in  her 
own  mother's  hand,  was  more  of  a  puzzle. 

Madam's    talk    subsided    presently,    perhaps    under 


40  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

the  monotony  of  her  employment,  or  the  lullaby  of  the 
muffled  crunching  of  the  rock-salt  before  the  roller,  and 
the  coo  and  tiptoeing  of  the  pigeons  overhead.  A  long 
term  of  silence  was  interrupted  by  the  whistling  whir 
of  wings  as  the  startled  birds  forsook  their  promenade. 
Hasty  steps  grated  upon  the  gravel  and  struck  the  flat 
stone  at  the  back-door. 

"  Pardon  me,  Madam  Byrd,"said  Mr.  Fontaine  from 
the  door- way,  "  but  Colonel  Byrd  instructed  me  to  report 
myself  for  orders  before  going  home.  Is  there  anything 
I  can  do  in  his  absence  to  serve  you?" 

"  Going  home,  when  dinner  will  be  on  the  table  in 
an  hour !  Not  a  foot  do  you  stir,  fasting" — began  the 
hostess. 

The  bright  blood  had  flown  into  Evelyn's  cheeks  at 
the  intruder's  voice  ;  her  eyes  met  his  eagerly,  and  the 
smile  exchanged  was  seen  by  both  matrons.  Evelyn 
arose  hastily. 

"  That  missing  volume  of  Froissart,  Mr.  Fontaine  !" 
she  exclaimed,  a  sort  of  happy  break  in  her  tone,  also 
noted  and  misconstrued, — "  I  found  it  yesterday.  I  will 
get  it  for  you  before  I  forget  it  again." 

She  had  joined  him  and  they  disappeared  to 
gether  ere  Madam  Byrd  found  her  tongue  and  Mrs. 
Carter's  imagination  could  fairly  receive  the  new  and 
astounding  impression  made  by  the  swift  scene. 

"  Go  to  the  kitchen,  Caliban,  and  tell  Isis  to  hurry 
dinner,  and  yourself  see  there  is  a  place  set  for  Mr. 
Fontaine,"  ordered  the  mistress,  discreetly.  Then  to 
her  friend, — 

"  Did  you  see  that  ?" 

Mrs.  Carter  nodded  in  emulative  discretion. 


HIS  ORE  AT  KKLF.  41 

"  You  don't  suppose  it  can  be  possible " 

Her  crony  smiled  dubiously. 

"It  looks  a  good  deal  like  it,"  she  committed  herself 
so  far  as  to  admit. 

"  Great  heavens  !  what  would  the  colonel  say  ?" 

The  bared  arms  and  plump  hands  dropped  prone 
upon  the  yielding  heap  of  petals,  and  were  buried  out 
of  sight.  The  confidante  forbore  reply  by  look  or  word, 
awaiting  clue  and  cue. 

"  Mr.  Fontaine  is  a  gentleman,  to  be  sure,"  resumed 
Madam,  thoughtfully,  but  as  one  seeks  for  consolation 
and  finds  none, — "of  excellent  family  and  education. 
The  colonel  likes  and  admires  him.  I  have  never 
heard  a  syllable  from  him  disrespectful  of  Mr.  Fontaine. 
But  sure  am  I  that  he  has  never  dreamed  of  him  as 
Evelyn's  suitor.  His  ambitions  for  his  daughter  are 
past  finding  out;  but,  after  all  the  distinguished  offers 
she  has  had,  this  would  be  a  bitter  pill.  I  dare  not  think 
of  what  may  lie  before  us!" 

She  looked  really  frightened ;  her  sanguine  com 
plexion  was  sallow,  her  chin  trembled  like  a  baby's. 
The  gentler  and  meeker  woman  was  amazed  at  these 
tokens  of  timidity  in  one  whom  she  had  regarded  as  too 
stout  of  heart  and  will  to  fear  the  frown  of  man. 

"  Both  of  us  may  be  mistaken," — essaying  comfort. 
"There  is  nothing  so  deceitful  as  a  girl's  blushes,  unless 
it  be  her  smiles.  And  Mr.  Fontaine  being  her  rector, 

O  7 

and  so  much  at  home  here " 

"  No  !  no  !  no  !  There's  something  between  them  ! 
I  never  saw  him  look  so  before — nor  her.  Not  that  I 
wonder  at  him.  Most  men  who  know  her  come  to  that, 
soon  or  late  ;  but  I  had  set  it  down  as  a  truth  past 

4* 


42  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

altering  that  she  would  live  and  die  Evelyn  Byrd  !" 
cried  the  step-parent  in  odd  vexation.  "  And  here  it  is 
all  to  be  gone  over  with  again,  and  rue  between  father 
and  daughter  like  cloth  caught  in  the  shears  !  If  Colin 
Bass  had  begun  to  sigh  and  ogle,  and  she  to  blush  at 
him,  I  could  hardly  have  been  more  upset." 

"Now  you  are  going  too  far,"  demurred  Mrs.  Carter, 
laughingly.  "  Mr.  Fontaine's  birth,  breeding,  and  char 
acter  are  above  reproach.  He  is  handsome  and  good, 
and  richer  than  most  clergymen.  Colonel  Byrd  is  the 
most  reasonable  man  I  know.  When  he  sees  that 
Evelyn's  heart  is  set  upon  her  lover  her  father  cannot 
hold  out  against  his  favorite  child." 

"  You  don't  know  William  Evelyn  Byrd,  Esq.,  of 
Westover,  Virginia,"  enunciated  his  spouse  in  slow 
portentousness.  "  His  is  the  iron  hand  in  the  velvet 
glove.  And  when  the  velvet  is  stripped  off,  the  iron  is 
red-hot!  Ah-h  !"  her  fine  eyes  enlarging  with  mount 
ing  tears,  "I  was  too  light-hearted  this  morning.  I 
shall  never  tempt  Providence  again  by  casting  off  care 
so  entirely.  The  smell  of  rose-leaves  will  always  make 
me  sick  !  You  must  have  marked  their  dalliance  over 
the  hamper  before  they  espied  me — poor,  prating,  pur 
blind  fool  that  I  was  !" 

"  Nay  !"  remonstrated  Mrs.  Carter,  seeing  the  salt 
drops  trickle  upon  the  petals  with  which  the  plump 
hands  were  again  mechanically  engaged,  "in  that  you 
err.  There  was  no  love-making  over  baskets  or  hamper. 
And" — awkwardly  to  redeem  the  lapse  she  had  so  nearly 
made — "  there  is  really  not  an  atom  of  proof  that  these 
two  will  ever  be  other  than  friends." 

Madam  reached  out  an  arm  to  draw  toward  her  the 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  43 

sheet  on  which  Evelyn  had  been  writing.  The  kindling 
fire  in  her  eyes  scorched  up  the  moisture. 

"Look  at  that!"  in  accents  trembling  with  sorrow 
and  wrath,  yet  dashed  with  triumph.  "  Did  not  you 
hear  me  bid  her,  times  without  number,  to  write  down 
that  receipt  in  honest  English  ?  'Tis  plain  to  be  seen 
her  wits  were  running  upon  her  French-born  suitor. 
His  tongue  could  wile  a  bird  off  a  bush.  I  mind  me, 
now,  of  coming  out  upon  the  front  steps,  a  week  ago 
Sunday  night,  where  she,  with  my  Jane,  Mary,  and 
Willy, — the  dears  never  mistrusting  they  were  but  a 
cat's-paw, — sat  still  as  mice,  hearkening  to  his  Rever 
ence's  tale  of  how  his  father — also  a  clergyman  of  the 
Reformed  faith — was  persecuted  out  of  his  native  land, 
obliged  to  shift  for  his  safety  in  forests  and  deserts,  was 
stuck  into  a  noisome  dungeon  and  laden  with  chains, 
and  a  deal  more  piteous  stuff,  in  hearing  which  my 
little  lambs  cried  outright  and  the  fair  Evelyn  was 
fain  to  mop  her  eyes,  while  as  for  me,  soft-hearted 
mole  !  I  couldn't  count  the  stars  for  the  tears!" 

Silenced  and  confounded,  Mrs.  Carter  followed  the 
freshly-written  lines  traced  by  the  dreaming  amanu 
ensis  : 

"  Bouillon  Sec  on  portatif,  tres  Commode  et  Utlle 
fanner  (I  L'Armee,  et  en  Voyage. 

"  Prenez  deux  vieux  Chapons  ou  Coqs,  Concasses  en 
les  Os  sans  endommager  la  Chair ;  huit  livres  de  Bceuf 
maigre  et  L'Eschine,  ou  d'un  autre  bon  endroit,  avec  un 
Os  de  Mo'elle,  et  un  demy  pied  de  veau,  metlez-le  tout  en 
semble  dans  un  pot  de  terre  bien  vernisse  ;  mettez  de  L'Eau 
suffissamment,  faites-le  cuire  aupres  du  feu;  ecumez-le 
bien,  ajoutez-y  une  piece  de  Ginyembre,  vingt  grains  de 


44  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

poivre,  Fruit  Cloux  de  Giroffle ;  trois  grandes  pieces  de 
fleur  de  muscade,  deux  feuilles  de  Laurier  ;  conlinuez  d, 
le  cuire  &  petit  feu,  sansflamme " 

" '  Petit  feu,  sansflamme  /' "  ejaculated  the  step-mother, 
with  an  angry  sob.  " '  Grand  feu,  avec  flamme  /'  she 
had  better  have  written.  She  has  her  lover  to  console 
her — unless,  indeed,  her  father  judges  fit  to  risk  the 
chances  of  carrying  her  over  to  the  other  side  to  part  her 
from  this  one.  The  Lord  only  knows  how  'twill  end  ! 
But  one  thing  is  sure.  I,  who  am  least  to  blame,  will 
get  the  brunt  of  it  all.  How  many  million  times  have 
I  charged  you  not  to  burst  into  a  room  in  that  fashion  ?" 
to  Caliban,  whose  bounce  over  the  threshold  merited 
the  reproof.  "  Go  back  and  scratch  upon  the  panel,  as 
you  have  been  taught.  Now," — the  prescribed  form 
having  been  observed, — "you  come  to  say  that  dinner 
is  served  ?" 

"  Naw,  mistis,"  drawled  the  servitor.  "  But  de 
Buckley  kerridge  drivin'  down  de  road." 

"  The  Berkeley  carriage  !  Where  is  your  Mistress 
Evelyn?" 

"  Waitin'  at  de  gate,  wid  Mr.  Fountaine,  for  de  ker 
ridge.  'Twas  her  sont  me  fur  to  tell  you  dere  was 
comp'ny  a-comin'." 

The  mistress  of  Westover  collected  her  dignity. 

"  Be  at  the  gate  in  time  to  let  down  the  carriage-steps. 
'Tis  not  Mr.  Fontaine's  business.  When  you  have 
seen  how  many  persons  are  there,  go  bid  Osiris  lay 
that  number  of  covers  the  more  at  table.  Get  you 
gone !" 

It  was  characteristic  of  Evelyn  and  her  unconfessed 
lover  that  she  did  not  ask  if  he  had  opened  the  locket 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  45 

lie  had  found,  and  that  he  did  not  offer  to  explain  that 
he  had  not. 

"  It  lay  on  the  front  steps,  twinkling  like  a  star/'  he 
said,  in  restoring  it.  "  The  marvel  is  that  I  passed  it 
on  my  way  out  without  espying  it." 

He  felt  himself  color  slightly  in  the  recollection  of 
the  haste  and  heat  produced  by  the  dialogue  in  the 
study,  that  had  made  him  unobservant.  Evelyn,  heed 
less  of  his  confusion,  in  her  joyful  relief  from  anxiety, 
holding  her  recovered  treasure  close  until  it  seemed  to 
give  back  the  warm  pulsing  of  her  palm,  poured  out 
thanks  and  blessings  as  upon  a  benefactor. 

"  I  am  right  glad  nobody  else  discovered  it !  that  I 
owe  the  pleasure  of  having  it  back  to  you,  mon  ami!" 
falling  into  and  going  on  in  his  native  tongue,  as  she 
often  did  when  no  listeners  were  by.  "I  hope  the 
good  GOD  will  put  it  into  my  power  one  day  to  give 
you  a  great  pleasure  in  return.  For  it  is  a  great  ser 
vice  you  have  done  me,  M.  Fontaine.  I  have  many 
jewels,  but  I  value  none  others  as  I  value  this.  It 
never  leaves  my  neck,  whether  I  sleep  or  whether  I 
awake.  I  recollect  now  that  Lady  Bess  toyed  with 
the  chain  while  she  was  in  my  arms.  The  clasp  must 
have  been  loosened  thus,  and  the  locket  have  fallen 
from  my  gown  upon  the  steps.  I  shudder  to  think  if 
I  had  lost  it  forever!"  kissing  it  before  putting  it  into 
her  pocket.  "  It  is  my  amulet, — a  charm  ;  not  against 
pain  or  sorrow, — oh,  no  !  I  think  only  death  can 
secure  us  against  them !  but  against  heart-break  and 
despair  !" 

"Heart-break  and  despair!"  echoed  Fontaine,  in 
credulously.  "The  words  do  not  become  your  lips." 


46  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

lie  was  not  given  to  gallant  formula,  and  she  an 
swered  in  grave  simplicity, — 

"  Because  I  am  the  petted  daughter  of  a  rich  man, 
and  seem  to  want  for  nothing?  For  all  that,  sorrow 
and  I  have  been  close  acquaintances  for  many  a  day. 
We  joined  hands  when  I  was  a  child.  I  was  but  nine 
when  my  mother  died.  Of  small-pox,  too!"  shudder- 
ingly.  "  She,  fair  as  the  angels  ever  are,  and  delicately 
nurtured. 

"My  sister  and  I  were  at  school  in  Paris.  Our 
mother  had  left  us  but  a  fortnight  before.  I  remember 
how  unwilling  she  was  to  go.  But  there  was  a  great 
court-ball  in  London,  and  my  father  would  have  her 
attend  it  with  him.  He  was  very  fond  and  proud  of 
her,  but  she  lent  him  obedience  in  all  things — as  every 
body  does. 

"She  carne  into  the  nursery  early  on  the  morning 
of  their  departure  and  knelt  down  by  our  bed  to  say 
'  good-by.'  As  she  kissed  me,  a  tear  dropped  on  my 
face,  and  I  began  to  cry.  I  held  her  fast  by  the  neck 
and  prayed  her  not  to  go.  I  said  I  was  afraid  I  should 
never  see  her  again.  My  father  laughed  and  frowned 
at  me,  and  bade  me  '  behave  less  like  a  baby.  He 
would  bring  her  back  in  a  week,'  he  said.  'Didn't  I 
want  the  king  to  see  the  prettiest  woman  in  his  domin 
ions?'  She  was  feverish  on  the  night  of  the  ball,  but 
sooner  than  disappoint  my  father  she  would  not  com 
plain.  She  was  never  handsomer  than  she  looked  that 
evening — my  poor,  beautiful  mother!  I  have  her 
court-dress,  the  last  she  ever  wore,  and  her  jewels. 
The  fever  heightened  her  color  and  brightened  her 

o  o 

eyes.     The  king  danced   with  her,  and,  in  returning 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  47 

her  to  my  father  when  the  dance  was  over,  kissed  her 
hand,  and  asked  my  father  'if  there  were  many  other 
birds  in  America  as  beautiful  as  she.'  That  was  much 
for  His  Majesty  to  say." 

"  The  talent  for  fine  speeches  does  not  run  in  the 
House  of  Hanover,"  observed  Fontaine,  smiling. 
Deeply  interested  as  he  was  in  the  story,  so  naively 
recited,  a  compassionate  impulse  warned  him  to  change 
the  theme.  "  You  were,  yourself,  presented  at  the 
court  of  our  present  king,  were  you  not  ?" 

"  Yes  ;  how  long — how  very  long  ago  it  was  !" 

They  had  sauntered  away  from  the  house  into  the 
garden,  passing  between  two  immense  box-trees  cut 
into  the  shape  of  peacocks,  with  tails  broadly  unfurled. 
A  gate  in  the  garden-wall  opened  upon  a  level  green, 
over  which  a  gravel  walk  led  to  the  little  parish 
church.  Other  clumps  of  box  flanked  the  gateway, 
and  were  clipped  into  the  semblance  of  gigantic  urns, 
in  obedience  to  a  fantasy  of  harmonious  approach  to 
the  burial-ground  surrounding  the  chapel.  In  the 
shade  of  one  of  these  lugubrious  ornaments,  Evelyn 
leaned  on  the  wall,  her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ivy-mantled 
church,  close  to  which  slept  two  generations  of  her 
kindred. 

"  It  is  like  a  dream  now,"  she  went  on,  softly.  "  I 
was  very  young.  I  seem  to  have  lived  a  century  since." 

The  bees  hummed  in  shrill,  sweet  legato  about  the 
hives  on  the  sheltered  side  of  the  wall ;  the  September 
sunshine  was  a  pale  amber  tissue  upon  land  and  water. 
Even  here  they  could  discern  the  smell  of  the  roses, 
like  the  memory  of  a  love-dream.  /-x 

"You  loved  the  Old  World  very  dearly,  did  you 


48  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

not?"  said  Fontaine,  sinking  his  voice  to  the  pitch  of 
hers.  "  If  you  had  had  your  will,  you  would  never 
have  recrossed  the  ocean  ?" 

He  had  put  her  on  her  guard.  Whatever  scene  was 
conjured  up  in  that  brief  reverie,  stealing  seductively 
between  her  and  the  ivied  walls,  it  fled  more  fleetly 
than  it  had  come. 

"Nay," — the  exquisite  courtesy  learned  from  her 
father  informing  smile  and  tone, — "  that  would  have 
been  ingratitude,  you  know.  Westover  is  my  birth 
place.  I  have  too  many  dear  friends  here  and  else 
where  in  America  to  think  or  speak  lightly  of  exile. 
So  far  as  I  can  read  the  page  lettered  with  my  name 
in  the  book  of  Destiny,  I  shall  live  on  quietly  here 
and  thus,  until  I  am  borne  by  this  gate  to  my  home 
over  there.  I  have  thought,  sometimes,  that  my  sleep 
would  be  more  peaceful  if  the  shadow  of  the  church 
fell  likewise  on  my  mother's  grave.  But  that  may 
not  be.  Forgive  me !"  with  a  deprecatory  smile,  as  she 
saw  the  unfeigned  pain  in  the  dark  eyes  turned  upon 
her;  "this  is  sorry,  foolish  talk  for  summer  weather. 
You  are  ever  such  an  indulgent  hearer  that  I  prate  my 
thoughts,  be  they  wise  or  simple,  grave  or  gay,  quite 

as  if  I  were  talking  to  myself Surely  that  is  the 

Berkeley  chariot  at  the  far  gate !  I  was  hoping,  not 
an  hour  ago,  that  Anne  Harrison  would  be  over  to 
day." 

If  her  companion  did  not  sympathize  in  the  pleasure 
that  lent  wings  to  her  feet,  he  was  not  ill-content  in 
following  her  down  the  long  alley  towards  the  house. 
The  blessedness  bound  up  in  her  ingenuous  confession 
that  converse  with  him  was  almost  like  self-communion 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  49 

gave  strength  sufficient  for  many  days  of  fasting  from 
other  assurances  as  sweet.  The  hope  he  had  never,  until 
to-day,  permitted  himself  to  recognize  in  its  true  form 
and  fulness,  much  less  to  foster,  had  feathered  itself 
bravely  in  the  last  few  hours. 

"  She  knows  me  ;  she  likes  me ;  she  trusts  me !"  was 
his  rapid  summing-up.  "  Let  me  be  assured  that  love 
may  follow,  and  no  mortal  force  can  bar  my  way. 
Least  of  all- 
He  set  his  well-cut  lips  in  unclerical  indignation,  as 
over  the  paling  dividing  front  and  back  lawns  flew  what 
Evelyn  playfully  called  her  "  cog  des  Juries,"  alighting 
with  screech  and  flutter  at  his  mistress's  feet.  On  the 
thither  side  of  the  fence,  peering  through  the  lilac 
hedge,  Fontaine  caught  sight  of  the  pale,  sardonic 
smile  of  the  secretary.  The  teasing  gobble  of  the 
turkey,  uneasy  from  indigestion  or  other  cause,  had 
worn  the  scribe's  patience  to  threads. 

"  What  fluttered  my  Hassan  ?"  cried  Evelyn,  stoop 
ing  to  offer  her  hand  for  the  harmless  peck  that  meant 
a  caress  from  the  odd  favorite. 

Fontaine  answered  distinctlv,  and  with  meaning  lost 

»  /  o 

upon  her,  but  comprehended  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
hedge : 

"  Some  evil  thing,  doubtless.  The  instinct  of  bird 
and  beast  oftentimes  perceives  and  is  affrighted  by  what 
human  reason  overlooks." 


50  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  Manor-House  of  Berkeley  was  less  than  a  mile 
from  Westover,  and  visible  from  the  roof-windows. 
Harrisons  and  Byrds  had  been  close  intimates  for  ninety 
years,  but  between  no  two  representatives  of  the  respec 
tive  families  had  ever  existed  fonder  friendship  than 
the  wife  of  the  present  proprietor  of  Berkeley  and 
Evelyn  Byrd  felt  the  one  for  the  other. 

The  gentlewoman  who  now  stepped  from  her  chariot 
into  her  friend's  embrace  had  done  far  more  than  her 
nominal  mother  to  fill  the  place  left  in  the  girl's  heart 
by  the  early  death  of  the  beautiful  woman  who  had 
given  her  birth. 

"  Robert  Carter,  Esq.,  of  Corotoman,  Lancaster 
County,  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of  Virginia,"  is 
better  known  in  colonial  history  by  the  sobriquet  of 
"  King  Carter," — bestowed  upon  him  on  account  of  his 
immense  possessions  and  the  regal  sway  he  exercised 
over  them.  He  was  the  father  of  twelve  living  children. 
The  love-match  of  his  fairest  daughter,  Anne,  with 
Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Berkeley,  brought  about  the 
marriage  of  his  son  John  to  the  only  child  of  Edward 
Hill,  Esq.,  of  Shirley,  knighted  baronet  for  services 
done  the  Crown.  The  princely  estate  of  Shirley  was 
a  fortified  plantation  as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  and  that  a  young  man  whose  twelfth 
part  of  even  such  a  realm  as  King  Carter's  did  not 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  51 

rank  him  as  a  householder  with  other  of  Miss  Hill's 
suitors,  should  have  secured  the  heiress,  was  ascribed  by 
many,  besides  the  chagrined  non-suited,  to  his  sister's 
diplomatic  talents.  True  or  unjust,  the  suspicion  did 
not  mar  the  satisfaction  in  existing  relations  of  those 
most  nearly  concerned.  The  sisters-in-law  remained 
upon  affectionate  terms  ;  John  Carter  left  his  estate  in 
the  management  of  an  overseer,  and  passed  months  at 
a  time  with  his  wile  and  children  at  Corotoman,  con 
sulted  by  and  co-operating  with  his  father  in  the  gov 
ernment  and  transfer  of  patrimonial  acres,  his  heiress- 
spouse  expressing  herself  as  well-pleased  with  the 
arrangement.  One  and  all,  baffled  lovers  and  disap 
pointed  fortune-hunters,  in  due  time  forgave  Mrs. 
Harrison,  each  cheerfully  contributing  his  quota  of 
attractions  to  win  for  Berkeley  the  reputation  of  being 
the  most  popular  house  on  the  river. 

Having  married  early,  Mrs.  Harrison  was,  in  the 
teeth  of  the  rebutting  evidence  of  half-a-dozen  children, 
still  so  youthful  in  appearance,  so  pretty  and  so  viva 
cious  as  to  make  her  confidential  intercourse  with  the 
belle  of  the  tide-water  region  altogether  congruous. 

Like  most  of  the  James  River  mansion  houses, 
Westover  had  two  fronts, — one  commanding  the  water 
view,  the  other  towards  carriage-road,  fields,  and  back 
country.  The  gate  within  which  the  friends  paused  for 
a  whispered  word  supplementary  of  their  greetings,  hung 
between  two  square  pillars.  A  stone  ball  surmounted 
each  ;  on  these  globes  were  perched  two  leaden  eagles 
(mistaken  by  some  natives  of  the  soil  for  turkey-buz 
zards),  wings  half-spread  and  beaks  pointed  upward. 
From  pillar  to  pillar  was  an  arch,  filled  with  iron 


52  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

scroll-work  wrought  in  and  about  the  monogram, 
"W.E.B." 

For  many  years  afterward  Pierre  Fontaine  never 
passed  beneath  this  lintel  without  recalling  the  inde 
finable  thrill  that  shot  through  him  as  the  two  graceful 
heads  leaned  together  for  a  hasty  second,  and  light 
sparkled  from  face  to  face.  He  drew  aside  in  intuitive 
forbearance  not  to  hear  the  mutual  "  aside."  Had  it 
reached  him,  it  would  not  have  made  him  uneasy  or 
serious. 

"  Contrive  to  see  me  apart  for  ten  minutes,"  said 
Mrs.  Harrison. 

And  Evelyn  :  "  I  have  had  such  a  fright !  I  must 
tell  you  of  it." 

Madam  Byrd  advanced  to  the  edge  of  the  stone 
platform  outside  of  the  rear  door  of  the  hall  to  receive 
the  visitor.  Ceremony  she  owed  Benjamin  Harrison's 
wife.  Courtesy  was  a  matter  of  noblesse  oblige.  Cor 
diality,  or  a  show  of  it,  went  with  the  entree  of  her 
house.  Her  bitterest  enemy  would  have  had  under 
her  roof-tree  civility  and  lordly  cheer.  She  would  not 
affect,  beyond  these,  complaisance  she  did  not  feel. 
And  she  had  reason  for  not  feeling  over-complaisant. 
Once,  when  nobody  except  her  husband  and  step-daugh 
ter  was  by,  she  had  flung  a  caustic  gibe  at  her  fairest 
and  nearest  neighbor.  Evelyn  repelled  it  with  spirit, 
and  her  father  supported  her  by  a  smiling  defence  of 
"a  charming  woman,  who  would  ever  find  detractors 
among  her  own  sex,  especially  among  those  who  had 
erst  been  slim  and  fair  themselves." 

Madam  had  never  exactly  loved  this  particular 
charmina;  woman.  From  that  hour  she  would  have 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  53 

disliked  her  as  heartily  as  one  good  Christian  can  dis 
like  another  had  she  not  been  "  Ben"  Harrison's  faith 
ful  wife.  But  nobody  heard  another  overt  criticism 
from  her. 

"  You  are  just  in  time  to  take  pot-luck  with  us,"  she 
said  by  the  time  she  had  shaken  hands  with  her  new 
guest.  "  Caliban,  call  Canute  to  take  Mrs.  Harrison's 
horses  around  to  the  stable.  I  wish  you  had  brought 
Mr.  Harrison  with  you,  and  your  girls  to  see  mine. 
I  hope  they  are  in  fair  health?  Here  is  Willy  come 
to  ask  why  Ben  has  not  been  over  to  play  with  him  for 
a  month  of  Sundays,"  stroking  the  head  of  her  pretty 
little  son.  "  No,  Evelyn  !  do  not  drag  Mrs.  Harrison 
to  your  room,  when  she  must  come  right  down  again. 
She  can  lay  aside  her  hat  in  the  hall." 

There  is  an  excess  of  hospitable  attention  that  ap 
proximates  rudeness,  and  Madam  Byrd's  behavior 
escaped  this  so  narrowly  that  Evelyn  became  nervously 
apprehensive.  The  excellent  matron  was,  as  she  would 
have  phrased  it,  "  in  a  swivel."  Whatever  degree  of 
general  upsetativeness  the  word  may  define,  her  sensa 
tions  were  unenviable.  Her  lord  had  been  gone  less 
than  four  hours,  and  she  found  herself  confronted  by 
a  complication  beyond  her  management.  Already  it 
began  to  dawn  upon  her  humbled  soul  that  the  true 
word  spoken  in  jest  was  when  she  averred  a  husband 
to  be  a  convenience.  Liberty  was  one  thing,  and  re 
sponsibility  another.  And  Evelyn,  usually  a  sensible, 
dutiful  girl,  of  whom  she  was  very  fond,  had  behaved 
badly  in  coquetting  with,  or  encouraging  Mr.  Fontaine, 
whichever  it  might  be.  Her  temporary  guardian  was 
impatient  to  have  the  house  clear  of  visitors,  that  she 

5* 


54  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

might  "have  it  out"  with  the  young  woman  and  be 
confirmed  in  or  disabused  of  her  misgivings. 

Dinner  was  not  served  for  a  trying  hour,  despite 
Madam's  message  to  the  cook  and  assurances  to  her 
guests.  When  served,  it  befitted  the  wealth  of  the 
Byrd's  and  their  reputation  for  high  living.  After  the 
fish,  which  was  set  before  Madam  Byrd,  and  the  mast- 
fed  ham  (salted  under  the  eye  of  the  mistress,  then 
smoked  with  seasoned  hickory-chips),  that  stood  at  the 
far  end  of  the  board,  were  removed,  a  pair  of  boiled 
chickens,  stuffed  with  York  River  oysters,  took  the 
place  of  the  first- mentioned  dish,  and  a  mighty  haunch 
of  venison  superseded  the  ham.  Besides  these  bul 
warks  of  the  feast,  there  were  veal  collops  garnished 
with  olives,  larded  sweetbreads,  a  chine  of  mutton, 
stewed  terrapin,  roast  guinea  fowl,  a  puree  of  pease; 
potatoes,  Irish  and  sweet,  green  corn,  artichokes ;  a 
tongue  done  in  jelly  balancing  a  young  turkey  simi 
larly  embedded  on  the  other  side  of  the  table,  and  a 
salad  of  lettuce.* 

Of  sweets  there  were  no  less  than  twenty  different 
kinds,  including  East  India  sweetmeats,  and  persim 
mons,  gathered  last  Christmas  and  preserved  in  lucent 
syrup,  according  to  an  original  recipe  of  that  notable 
housewife,  Madam  Maria  Byrd. 

Two  colored  footmen,  assisted  by  two  sable  hand 
maidens,  their  heads  done  up  in  starched  muslin  tur 
bans,  waited  under  the  captious  superintendence  of 
Osiris,  butler-in-chief  and  second  in  command  upon 
the  plantation  in  the  absence  of  the  master.  Even 

*  A  bona  fide  bill  of  fare. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  55 

Madam  Byrd  deferred  to  him  once  in  many  whiles, 
and  addressed  him  habitually  in  accents  several  semi 
tones  removed  from  the  imperiousness  which,  accord 
ing  to  her  creed,  was  absolutely  essential  to  the  preser 
vation  of  discipline  among  what  she  chose  to  consider 
half-barbarous  vassals.  Caliban's  office  combined  the 
functions  of  call-boy,  bearer  of  despatches  between 
kitchen  and  table,  whipper-in,  and  flying-artillery 
man,  but  he  stood,  when  allowed  to  stand,  behind  the 
chair  of  his  young  mistress. 

Charley  Carter  sat  with  madam's  four  children  at 
a  side-table,  the  sable  damosels  aforesaid  having  this 
in  especial  charge.  Lady  Bess's  high  chair  was  be 
tween  her  mother  and  Evelyn  Byrd.  Of  the  six 
bairns,  she  was  the  only  one  who  spoke  unless  when 
spoken  to  during  the  hour  given  to  the  meal.  The 
rule  that  children,  although  of  necessity  visible  to  the 
naked  eye,  need  not  be  audible,  obtained  in  force  in 
those  primitive  times.  Even  the  spoiled  elf  conversed 
in  whispers  with  her  neighbors  to  the  right  and  left, 
and  issued  orders  to  Sally  who  waited  on  her  by  twist 
ing  her  head  half  around,  or  throwing  it  back  until 
those  opposite  had  only  a  ludicrously  fore-shortened 
jumble  of  dimpled  chin,  cherry  mouth,  tip-tilted  nose, 
and  yellow  curls.  That  she  should  be  at  the  "grown 
folks'  table"  at  all  was  a  violation  of  Westover  law 
and  precedent.  The  juvenile  Byrds  looked  on  in  won 
der,  mixed  with  indignation,  only  to  be  appeased  by  a 
message  privately  conveyed  through  Caliban  that  their 
half-sister  had  become  security  for  her  pet's  good  be 
haviour. 

The   minx,  put  upon   her  honor,  disturbed    nobody 


56  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

except  the  two  nearest  her  until  she  preferred  a  whis 
pered  petition  for  "  more  cream-pudding." 

Her  mother  replied  aloud, — 

"Say,  'Mr.  Bass!  I  will  take  a  little  more  pud 
ding,  if  you  please.' " 

"  Yady  Bess  'out  not  say  '  p'ease'  to  dat  bad  man/' 
piped  the  infant,  ruffling  up  like  a  game  pullet. 

"  Bess !"  from  her  horrified  parent. 

"My  darling  !"  in  a  whisper  from  Evelyn. 

"Hoity-toity!  these  be  fine  airs!"  from  Madam 
Byrd,  temporarily  forgetful  of  hostesshood  in  dread 
lest  the  example  should  be  contagious. 

The  secretary  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  table  when  Colo 
nel  Byrd  was  away.  His  hands  were  thick,  with  short, 
blunt  fingers,  but  they  were  white  and  smooth,  and 
exceptionally  deft  and  strong.  He  had  not  spoken  all 
dinner-time  except  to  utter  the  formulas  inseparable 
from  his  office  as  carver.  Both  tables  were  served  with 
ham,  venison,  mutton,  fowls,  and  pudding  from  plat 
ters  set  before  him.  He  carved  skilfully  and  rapidly, 
and  contrived  to  get  in  an  abundant  repast  for  himself 
consistently  with  his  duty  to  others. 

"  He  is  one  witted  (wicked)  man,"  continued  Bess 
in  treble  crescendo,  accentuating  the  iteration  with  a 
chubby  index  finger.  "  Yady  Bess  'ont  not  say 
'  t'ankye'  or  '  p'ease'  to  dat  ole  tat !" 

A  titter  from  the  side-table  and  a  strangled  snicker 
from  Sally  applauded  the  figure,  and  both  mothers 
arose  to  the  occasion. 

"Right  sorry  am  I  to  hear  child  of  mine  giggle  at 
such  language,  albeit  from  a  baby,"  said  Madam,  sitting 
an  inch  higher  in  her  chair. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  57 

"Leave  the  room,  Sally!"  ordered  Mrs.  Carter. 
"  Bess !  look  at  me.  Now,  say,  '  Mr.  Bass,  I  beg 
your  pardon  !' " 

Instead  of  submitting,  Bess  glared  upon  the  secre 
tary,  who  was  eating  his  own  share  of  pudding  with 
every  symptom  of  unconcern. 

"  He  kno#ed  me  down  an'  too£  mine  p'itty  bo£s  'way 
f ' om  me.  I  s'all  tell  Turnel  Byrd  and  mine  fader  fen 
dey  turn  home.  I  jink" — meditatively-murderous — 
'  dey  'ill  bof  of  'em  till  him  dead.  Wif  a  c/un  !  An' 
buckshot  hit'  it !" 

The  climax  in  the  baby-patois,  joined  to  the  com 
placent  enmity  of  the  cherubic  visage  as  she  gloated 
over  the  anticipated  vengeance,  was  irresistible.  Disci 
pline  went  to  pieces  in  the  general  struggle  for  a  decent 
measure  of  gravity,  only  the  secretary  remaining  un- 
infected  by  the  prevailing  disorder.  Charley  Carter 
and  Willy  Byrd  made  a  simultaneous  rush  for  the 
door,  and  were  overheard  going  into  convulsions  on 
the  lawn.  Madam  was  obliged  to  cough  behind  her 
handkerchief,  and  Mr.  Fontaine  forgot  clerical  deco 
rum.  With  it  all,  nobody  thought  of  analyzing  the 
child's  jabber  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  there  were 
an  admixture  of  fact  in  her  sweeping  arraignment. 
The  stolid  composure  of  the  accused  had  much  to  do 
with  the  omission.  Plebeian  phlegm,  if  stanch,  is  not 
a  bad  substitute  for  patrician  self-command  when  no 
better  material  is  at  hand. 

Mrs.  Harrison  saved  the  day  for  the  nonplussed 
mother  with  whom  articulation  was  an  impossibility. 

"  Did  you  see  the  Jaquelines'  sloop  go  by  this  morn 
ing  ?"  she  inquired  of  Madam  Byrd,  her  voice  treacher- 


58  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

o us  from  inward  laughter.  "It  brought  me  a  barrel 
of  peaches,  besides  oysters  and  yams,  and  two  crates  of 
grapes.  I  must  not  forget  to  ask  for  your  receipt  for 
making  claret.  These  are  red  and  purple  grapes.  I 
should  beg  you  to  accept  one  crate,  but  you  are  so  lucky 
with  everything  you  raise  and  make  as  to  leave  your 
friends  little  opportunity  to  do  anything  neighborly  for 
you." 

Mr.  Fontaine's  eyes  at  this  instant  met  Evelyn's 
across  the  table  in  a  mirthful  gleam  that  irritated  the 
step-dame  into  resentful  recollection  of  the  unfinished 
receipt  left  on  the  still-room  table. 

"You  flatter  me,"  she  said,  dryly.  "As  to  the 
receipt,  you  are  welcome  to  it.  That  is,  if  Mr.  Bass 
will  copy  it  from  my  household  book." 

The  secretary  bowed  assent,  comprehending  as  little 
of  the  animus  of  request  and  tone  as  Evelyn,  who 
colored  sensitively. 

"  I  will  copy  it  for  Anne,  mamma.  I  have  still  to 
complete  what  I  was  doing  for  Mrs.  Carter " 

"  Enough  !"  Her  step-mother  stayed  her  with  a 
majestic  wave  of  the  hand.  "  Mr.  Bass  will  transcribe 
the  receipt  for  Mrs.  Harrison  in  English.  I  hope  the 
Jamestown  folk  are  well  ?"  to  Mrs.  Harrison,  with  the 
air  of  dismissing  an  unsafe  subject.  "  Mistress  Martha 
will  be  shaming  the  rest  of  us  with  her  Paris  gowns 
and  furbelows.  Does  she  speak  of  coming  up  the  river 
to  let  us  have  a  peep  at  her  finery  ?" 

"  I  had  a  letter  from  her."  To  Mr.  Fontaine,  if  to 
no  one  else,  occurred  the  idea  that  Mrs.  Harrison  avoided 
looking  at  Evelyn  while  she  said  it,  directing  her  gaze 
full  at  the  hostess.  "  She  says  naught  of  her  Paris 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  59 

gear,  but  we  are  like  to  have  a  chance  of  judging  of 
it  for  ourselves,  since  she  promises  to  make  me  a  visit 
next  week." 

Evelyn  cried  out  with  delight. 

"And  me  also,  I  hope!  I  love  no  girl  better  than 
Martha  Jaqueline,  and  we  have  not  met, — it  is  now  a 
good  twelvemonth  !" 

"  Is  it  also  recorded  in  your  calendar  that  ten  of  the 
twelve  were  spent  by  Mistress  Martha  on  the  other  side 
of  the  ocean?"  Madam's  temper  strained  upon  the 
curb.  "She  was  ever  more  French  than  English, 
though,  like  yourself,  Mistress  Evelyn,  born  in  America 
under  an  English  king.  Without  doubt  she  will  have 
quite  forgotten  her  mother-tongue,  having,  as  I  hear, 
given  much  time  while  abroad  to  her  father's  kinspeople 
in  France." 

"It  is  not  a  Frenchman  whom  she  has  brought  home 
in  her  train."  Mrs.  Harrison's  sparkling  face  did  not 
reflect  the  uneasiness  beginning  to  appear  in  that  of  her 
sister-in-law  at  the  subacid  suavity  of  the  lady  of  the 
manor.  u  But  an  English  cavalier.  So  she  writes  to 
me  in  asking  consent  to  bring  him  up  the  river  with 
herself." 

The  turn  was  cleverly  conceived,  and  successful  in 
smoothing  Madam's  ruffled  plumage. 

"  An  English  gentleman  !  The  sight  will  be  welcome 
to  one  pair  of  aching  eyes  !  Did  she  name  him  ?  Does 
he  belong  to  the  gentry  ?  or,  perchance,  to  the  nobility  ?" 

"She  writes  him  down  simply  as  'a  Mr.  Francis,' 
and  adds  little  by  way  of  description." 

"Nor  that  she  means  to  wed  him?"  with  the  pro 
vincial  scent  for  gossip  of  courtship  and  matrimony. 


60  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Nay — that  she  did  not  hint,"  rejoined  the  other, 
laughing.  "  Only  that  he  was  her  fellow- voyager  from 
Havre  ;  that  he  is  a  gentleman  by  birth  and  breeding, 
uot  deficient  in  learning  and  the  fine  arts,  and  a  traveller 
in  many  lands.  Furthermore,  that  he  had  letters  to  her 
mother." 

"  That  brings  all  right !"  in  judicial  satisfaction. 
"  The  widow  of  Edward  Jaqueline  receives  as  honored 
guests  none  who  cannot  produce  good  reasons  for  pre 
senting  themselves  at  her  door.  You  will  not  fail  to 
allow  Westover  a  share  in  the  pleasure  of  making  Mr. 
Francis  welcome  to  our  rude  provinces  ?  Being  learned 
and  a  traveller,  he  will  the  more  readily  excuse  our 
deficiencies  than  some  who  are  not  used  to  see  better 
things.  Mr.  Fontaine,  if  I  cannot  prevail  upon  our 
friends  further  to  honor  my  humble  fare,  will  you 
return  thanks  ?" 

The  day  was  wearing  toward  evening  when  Mr. 
Fontaine's  studies  in  the  library  were  interrupted  by  a 
light,  hasty  step.  The  four  ladies  had  spent  the  after 
noon  in  the  breezy  hall,  the  hum  of  their  voices  some 
times  unheeded  by  the  reader,  sometimes  distracting 
his  senses  so  completely  that  for  several  minutes  he 
did  not  turn  a  leaf.  He  needed  not  the  evidence  of 
sight  to  tell  him  that  Evelyn  had  left  the  party  three 
or  four  times,  once  remaining  absent  for  half  an  hour. 
At  the  touch  of  her  foot  on  the  threshold  his  frame 
was  electrically  alert,  but  he  arose  with  his  usual  calm 
courtesy. 

She  came  up  to  him  swiftly. 

"Mrs.  Harrison  is  going,"  she  said  in  French,  low 
and  breathlessly.  "  I  have  had  no  opportunity  for  a 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  61 

minute's  private  speech  with  her,  though  both  of  us 
have  essayed  it  once  and  again.  Will  you  propose  that 
we  shall  all  walk  with  her  part  of  the  way  home,  and 
will  you  escort  Mrs.  Carter — and  mamma,  should  she 
go?" 

"  Evelyn  !  Where  has  the  girl  gone  now  ?"  cried 
Madam  from  the  hall,  and  the  daughter  fled  sound 
lessly  by  way  of  the  drawing-room  door. 

Mr.  Fontaine,  hat  in  hand,  waited  at  the  eagle  gate 
to  hand  Mrs.  Harrison  into  her  chariot,  adieux  having 
been  spoken,  and  according  to  rural  custom  the  whole 
family  attending  the  departing  guest  to  the  carriage. 
Her  foot  was  on  the  step,  but  she  turned  to  heed  a  pro 
posal  that  was  evidently  an  after-thought. 

"The  sunset  from  the  top  of.  the  hill  will  be  fine 
this  evening,"  said  Mr.  Fontaine,  naturally  and  per 
suasively.  "Am  I  bold  in  suggesting  that  you  send 
your  chariot  forward  to  wait  for  you  at  the  trysting- 
tree  while  these  ladies" — indicating  the  group  she  was 
quitting — "  walk  with  you  that  far?  I  know" — with 
his  pleasant  smile — "  that  I  am  selfish  in  offering  my 
self  as  escort  for  the  party." 

Madam  Byrd  would  have  been  at  a  loss  with  the 
lights  then  at  her  call  to  state  why  she  had  of  inten 
tion  hindered  Evelyn's  coveted  t&tc-H-t&te  with  her 
friend.  She  would  have  been  more  perplexed  if  asked 
to  account  for  the  heat  that  coursed  through  her  veins 
and  heightened  the  fresh  color  in  her  comely  cheeks  at 
the  prompt  acquiescence  in  Mr.  Fontaine's  suggestion 
that  put  it  out  of  her  power  to  negative  it.  Mrs.  Har 
rison  had  stepped  back  to  the  ground,  declaring  that 
nothing  could  be  more  charming.  Mrs.  Carter  and 


62  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Evelyn  had  chimed  in  with  exclamations  of  like  effect. 
Madam  could,  and  did,  decline  to  join  the  party,  and 
she  called  after  the  quartette  a  warning,  voiced  like 
a  threat,  of  the  danger  of  the  river-air  at  sunset.  A 
Londoner  by  birth  and  life,  she  was  an  authority  upon 
fogs.  Mrs.  Harrison  answered  merrily  over  her  shoul 
der;  Mr.  Fontaine  looked  back  to  lift  his  hat  in  ac 
knowledgment  of  her  kindly  concern  in  their  behalf, 
then  walked  on  to  offer  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Carter. 

Re-entering  her  own  hall  frowningly,  Madam  faced 
the  secretary.  A  brass-bound  cedar  pail  of  water  stood 
on  a  shelf  just  within  the  door.  He  was  in  the  act 
of  dipping  into  it  the  white  gourd  that  hung,  when 
not  in  use,  upon  a  nail  beside  the  pail.  The  action 
was  common,  the  man's  air  commonplace,  yet  she 
divined  that  he  had  witnessed  the  scene  at  the  gate 
and  liked  it  even  less  than  she.  The  consciousness 
hurried  her  into  indiscretion  unusual  in  such  presence. 

"  I  wish  Colonel  Byrd  would  stay  at  home  to  look 
after  his  daughter,  instead  of  racketing  off  to  the  mines, 
and  Lord  knows  where  else  !"  she  ejaculated,  pettishly. 

The  smile  that  replied  was  the  pallid,  joyless  gleam 
that  had  provoked  Fontaine  to  sarcasm  at  noon,  but 
the  thin  lips  were  not  parted,  and  as  she  swept  up 
stairs  she  heard  the  click  of  the  study-door  that  shut 
him  in.  The  remembrance  of  her  peevish  outbreak 
did  not  annoy  her.  Colin  was  a  good  scribe,  and  a 
convenient  man  to  have  about  the  house,  but  lao-o-ard 

/  oo 

iii  wit — poor  wretch  ! 

The  trysting-tree  marked  the  boundary  line  of  the 
Westover  estate.  Beyond  lay  the  Berkeley  Plantation, 
— the  "  Berkeley  Hundred"  of  earlier  days.  From 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  63 

time  immemorial  the  pretty  custom  of  Harrisons  and 
Byrds  was  to  take  their  evening  meal  together  many 
times  each  summer,  under  this  wide-branched  oak. 
Servants  from  each  manor-house  brought  thither  ham 
pers  of  provisions,  napery  and  table  plenishings,  and 
young  and  old,  members  of  the  two  families  and  guests, 
supped  jovially  in  good  fellowship. 

Beneath  this  tree,  and  on  such  an  evening  as  this, 
Benjamin  Harrison  first  beheld  and  instantly  fell  in 
love  with  blithe  Anne  Carter.  Rumor  said  she  had 
the  incident  in  mind  when  she  brought  together,  under 
like  circumstances,  her  brother  John  and  the  heiress  of 
Sir  Edward  Hill.  Certain  it  is  that  she  liked  the  spot 
passing  well,  and  dwelt  fondly  and  often  upon  trysts 
and  love-scenes  that  had  made  it  memorable  for  much 
besides  such  natural  beauty  as  greeted  the  eyes  of  the 
pedestrians  on  this  afternoon. 

The  two  friends  had  walked  briskly  up  the  slight 
ascent,  but,  while  Mrs.  Harrison  was  flushed  by  the 
exercise,  Evelyn  was  pale  and  agitated  when  they 
halted  amid  the  green  shadows. 

"  Martha  met  him  many  times,  you  say,  and  they  talked 
of  me  ?"  she  faltered.  "  That  would  mean " 

"  That  he  is  true — and  resolute !  Why  do  you 
tremble,  dear?  Martha  will  tell  you  all  when  you 
meet  next  week, — in  six  days  more.  She  is  a  brave 
and  loyal  friend ;  oh,  so  brave  !  Think  over  what  I 
have  said,  for  it  is  but  to  prepare  you  for  more  and 
surprising  things  she  has  to  tell, — may  be  to  propose. 
I  have  kept  until  now  a  letter  enclosed  in  mine  for 
you.  Here  it  is.  Nay,  you  must  not  open  it  yet;  for 
hear  what  she  directs  of  it  in  mine,"  drawing  it  from 


64  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

her  pocket.  " '  Tell  Evelyn  not  to  break  tlie  seal  of 
that  which  I  enclose  unless  she  feels  in  her  heart  war 
rant  to  trust  herself  to  a  love  that  believes  all  things, 
hopes  all  things,  and  dares  all  things.  I  counsel  her 
to  wait  until  she  is  safely  shut  within  her  chamber,  and 
the  door  double-locked,  and  Madam  asleep  (if  she  ever 
closes  more  than  one  eye  at  a  time !).  Then  and  there, 
having  said  her  prayers  to  the  Defender  of  the  right, 
let  her,  still  kneeling,  open  and  read  and  ponder  the 
pacquet  I  herewith  send  to  her.  Unless  she  promise 
these  tilings,  I  charge  you  to  fling  the  said  pacquet  into 
flood  or  fire,  as  may  be  more  convenient.  Return  reply 
from  yourself  and  Evelyn  by  sloop  which  drops  down 
the  river  with  the  tide  to-morrow  morning.' " 

Mrs.  Harrison  returned  the  letter  to  its  hiding-place 
and  continued,  hurriedly : 

"The  others  will  soon  be  here,  dear  child.  They 
would  have  overtaken  us  ere  now  were  not  Mr.  Fontaine 
an  angel  in  a  black  coat.  Should  your  answer  to  Mar 
tha  be  '  Aye,'  send  me  this" — plucking  a  knot  of  blue 
ribbon  from  her  sleeve — "as  soon  after  sunrise  as  may 
be  possible  on  the  morrow.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  write, 
for  that  may  not  be  easy  when  you  have  read  your 
letter.  And  keep  it  until  you  are  in  your  own  room 
to-night,  as  Martha  says.  Good- by,  my  darling!  GOD 
bless  you  and  make  von  strong  !" 

*  •/  o 

To  cover  the  agitation  her  companion  could  not  at 
once  master,  she  moved  in  front  of  her  to  meet  the 
forms  just  appearing  among  the  bushy  growth  below, 
hailing  them  scoffingly, — 

" '  Go  to,  now,  ye  sluggards  !  consider  our  ways, 
and  be  wise !" 


JUS   GREAT  SELF.  65 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  demon  of  perversity,  Lady  Bess's  preferred 
familiar,  instigated  her  that  evening  to  refuse  to  be 
put  to  sleep  elsewhere  than  in  the  gentle  arms  that  had 
cradled  her  for  her  morning  nap.  Having  carried  this 
point,  she  moved,  furthermore,  that  she  would  sleep  all 
night  in  Evelyn's  room  and  bed — or  nowhere. 

Mrs.  Carter  almost  wept  over  her  recalcitrant  off 
spring,  and  opined,  as  millions  of  other  mothers  have 
since  that  "all  so  long  ago,"  that  "children  always 
seize  upon  the  occasions  of  being  abroad  or  in  com 
pany  to  behave  their  worst."  Madam  Byrd,  her  lips 
tightly  plaited,  watched  grimly  the  contest  which  took 
place  in  the  hall  soon  after  supper,  and  Mr.  Fontaine, 
booted  and  spurred  for  his  homeward  ride,  looked  on 
in  silence  as  compassionate  as  hers  was  severe. 

For  the  girl  over  whom  the  unequal  contest  went  on 
was  the  sad  shadow  of  her  whom  he  had  seen  in  the 
mirror-depths  ten  hours  ago.  Her  eyes  were  dark  and 
large  with  wistfulness;  her  cheek  was  as  colorless  as  a 
magnolia-petal ;  her  very  figure  looked  slighter  and  her 
hands  thinner.  Madam  Byrd  had  remarked  upon 
Evelyn's  lack  of  appetite  at  supper-time,  and  attributed 
her  lassitude  to  the  depressing  effect  of  riverside  walks 
after  sundown. 

"One  might  think  that  people  who  had  lived  in  an 
unhealthy  region  all  their  born  days  would  learn  not  to 
expose  themselves  recklessly." 
e  6* 


66  If  IS   GREAT  SELF. 

Fontaine  winced  at  this,  but  not  for  himself.  It 
was  plain  that  Evelyn  was  weary  from  some  occult 
cause,  and  in  need  of  rest,  and  he  did  his  best  towards 
gaining  it  for  her  by  an  early  leave-taking. 

She  forestalled  his  intention  by  a  sudden  movement. 

"  Let  me  have  her,"  she  said,  stooping  to  lift  the 
sobbing  child  from  her  mother's  knee.  "  She  will  make 
herself  ill.  Bess  !  do  you  hear  what  I  say  ?  Leave  off 
crying  and  we  will  go  up-stairs,  and  you  shall  sleep  in 
my  room.  Yes,  I  know  that  you  love  me!"  a  smile 
like  wan  sunlight  flitting  over  her  countenance  at  the 
fervor  of  the  spoiled  imp's  embraces,  and  the  shower 
of  wet  kisses  rained  upon  her  brow  and  cheeks.  "  But 
you  must  kiss  poor  mamma,  too,  and  promise  to  be  a 
better  girl  another  night  before  I  can  say  that  /love 
you." 

At  the  outcry  from  mother  and  nurse  at  the  sight  of 
the  slight  form  swaying  under  the  weight  of  the  baby, 
Mr.  Fontaine  interposed  : 

"Lady  Bess  will  let  me  carry  her  up-stairs,  I  am 
sure." 

With  a  gurgle  of  innocent  pleasure,  the  beauteous 
load  nodded  approval.  She  even  locked  her  fat  arms 
behind  his  neck  on  the  way  up  and  cooed,  "  I  yove 
'oo !"  In  the  same  breath  she  spat  out  virulently, 
"  Bass  is  a  ugly  nigger  /" 

"  Poor  Mr.  Bass  is  in  her  black  books  to-day  for  some 
unknown  reason,"  said  Evelyn,  waiting  in  the  opeu  door 
of  her  room  for  him  to  transfer  his  charge  to  her.  "  She 
hates  as  she  loves,  with  her  whole  heart.  Thank  you 
for  bringing  her  up,  and  for  all  else  you  have  done  for 
me  this  day." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  07 

He  bowed  reverently.  The  maiden-bower,  the  in 
terior  of  which  he  now  saw  for  the  first  time,  was  a 
shrine.  He  could  not  have  told  the  position  of  a  single 
article  of  furniture,  or  what  it  was  ;  but  he  carried  away 
a  dream  of  purity  and  fragrance,  of  cool,  gray  dusks  and 
reaches  of  silvery  moon-rays,  and  in  the  foreground  a 
figure  and  face  like  an  angel's,  that  looked  gratefully 
up  at  him. 

His  way  home  lay  through  the  heart  of  woods  where 
owls,  startled  by  the  beat  of  his  horse's  hoofs,  hooted 
dismally;  rabbits  ran  across  the  road  in  front  of  him, 
whippoorwills  cried  to  one  another,  and  frogs  bellowed 
hollowly  in  the  bayou  swamps.  Letting  his  rein  hang 
loose  upon  the  horse's  neck,  he  rode  onward  with  dream 
ful  eyes  that  saw  only  the  vision  he  bore  with  him,  and 
ears  that  heard  but  the  silver  ring  of  a  woman's  voice, 
thanking  him  "for  all  else  he  had  done  for  her  that 
day." 

Lady  Bess  took  her  own  time — and  plenty  of  it — for 
getting  to  sleep.  Endued  in  her  night-gown  and  cap, 
her  curls  escaping,  like  rings  of  floss-silk,  from  the  lace 
edge,  she  lay  against  Evelyn's  shoulder,  harmless  and 
fond  as  a  turtle-dove,  cooing  and  lisping  that  her  guar 
dian  was  the  "  boo'flest  yady  in  'ee  worl',"  and  that  she 
"yoved  her  a  whole  heartful,  an' ten  million  barnfuls," 
— her  artless  head  the  while  crushing  the  muslin  folds 
above  Martha  Jaqueline's  unread  letter. 

Colin  Bass,  strolling  down  the  moonlit,  rose-bordered 
walks  curving  from  the  east  to  the  west  gates,  heard 
a  faint  voice  singing  a  lullaby,  and  looked  up  at  the 
unlighted  windows  from  which  the  music  floated  down 
to  his  greedy  ears.  Half  an  hour  later,  while  on  the 


68  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

same  beat,  he  saw  the  gleam  of  a  lamp,  and  the  singing 
had  ceased. 

"  The  little  she-devil  has  let  her  off  at  last !"  he  mut 
tered  to  the  discreet  moon. 

Literally  obedient  to  the  behest  of  her  imperious 
friend,  Evelyn  said  her  prayers  before  unsealing  the 
packet  she  longed,  yet  almost  feared,  to  read.  She 
prayed  silently,  her  face  hidden  in  the  drapery  of  the 
bed  whereon  Lady  Bess  slept  the  sleep  of  the  con 
scienceless  unjust.  Now  and  then  a  shiver  ran  through 
the  body  and  limbs  of  the  kneeling  figure,  and  once  an 
audible  moan  shook  the  white  stillness  of  the  chamber. 
Not  until  her  petitions  were  ended  did  she  light  the 
lamp  upon  the  stand  at  the  bed-head,  and  then  she  did 
not  rise  from  her  knees.  There  was  a  vein  of  super 
stition  in  her  nature  to  which  Martha  Jaqueline's  adju 
ration  appealed  with  force.  While  breaking  the  seal  of 
the  letter,  she  said  aloud,  "G(>D  help  me  !"  and  "  GOD 
forgive  me  if  I  am  doing  wrong  !"  before  unfolding  the 
sheet. 

She  read  fast  and  excitedly  after  passing  the  first 
lines,  eyes  dilated  and  quivering  lips  apart  with  eager 
ness.  At  the  very  foot  of  the  last  page,  below  the 
signature,  a  line  had  been  added  by  another  hand  than 
that  which  had  written  the  rest : 

"Eva  !  J 'attends  encore  !  f  attends  toujours  /" 

She  raised  the  sheet  to  her  lips,  kissing  these  last 
words  over  and  over,  between  sobs  and  inarticulate 
cries,  laughing  and  weeping  together. 

Madam  Byrd's  prejudice  against  early  and  late 
rambles  was  apparently  not  shared  by  her  lord's  secre 
tary.  The  sunrise  of  the  day  succeeding  Mrs.  Har- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  (J9 

rison's  visit  saw  him  in  the  broad  lane  dividing  the 
Westover  and  Berkeley  plantations,  and  opposite  the 
gate  of  the  latter,  on  his  return  from  a  walk  of  three 
miles  into  the  back  country.  He  wore  knee-breeches, 
black  stockings  and  stout  shoes,  and  a  jerkin  of  buff 
leather  buttoned  to  his  chin  ;  a  silk  skull-cap,  that  would 
not  be  in  the  way  in  his  tramp  in  the  low-boughed  forest, 
was  upon  his  head.  His  complexion  was  freshened  by 
the  damp  air,  and  he  forged  ahead  in  the  middle  of  the 
road,  swinging  a  big  stick,  with  the  gait  and  mien  of  a 
well-made,  healthy,  and  unfatigued  man. 

Right  at  the  Berkeley  gate  lay  something  white  and 
small.  Bass  crossed  over  and  picked  it  up.  It  was  a 
dainty  parcel,  soft  to  the  touch,  done  up  in  silver  paper. 
Opening  it,  he  beheld  a  knot  of  ribbon  which  he  had 
remarked  yesterday  upon  Mrs.  Harrison's  sleeve.  His 
forefinger  went  up  to  the  scar  upon  his  chin;  with  his 
head  tilted  a  little  to  one  side,  he  studied  the  bit  of 
finery  with  a  vague,  irrational  idea  that  it  portended 
something.  How  came  it  here,  and  thus  enveloped  ? 
The  wearer  had  not  gone  home  by  this  route.  From  his 
lookout  in  the  shadowy  hall,  he  had  certainly  seen  that 
both  sleeves  were  adorned  with  blue  satin  bows,  as  she 
took  Evelyn  Byrd's  arm  and  walked  on  in  advance 
of  Mrs.  Carter  and  Mr.  Fontaine.  He  plumed  him 
self,  and  with  reason,  upon  the  eyesight  which  was  as 
quick  and  vigilant  of  every  detail  as  that  of  an  Indian 
scout. 

Light  came  soon,  and  from  an  unexpected  source. 
In  the  avenue,  more  than  half  a  mile  long,  leading 
straight  to  the  Berkeley  manor-house,  he  saw  a 
moving  form  tacking  from  side  to  side  of  the  way, 


70  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

and  stooping  occasionally  to  examine  a  clump  of  grass 
or  weeds.  As  it  approached,  Bass  saw  that  it  was 
Caliban.  He  was  a  handsome  fifteen-year-old  half- 
breed,  the  son  of  a  negress  and  of  an  Indian  father,  who 
had  bequeathed  to  him  stature,  litheness,  and  cunning. 
The  secretary  knew  himself  to  be  the  object  of  con 
temptuous  dislike  with  Colonel  Byrd's  unsalaried  de 
pendents,  and  liked  none  of  them,  while  affecting  not 
to  notice  sly  impertinence  and  overt  disrespect.  Be 
tween  himself  and  Caliban  there  was  war  as  open  as 
was  safe  for  the  slave  to  wage  against  a  white  man 
protected  by  his  master  and  mistress.  As  it  was,  the 
manoeuvres  by  which  the  scribe  had  contrived,  on 
divers  occasions,  to  bring  certain  elfish  tricks  practised 
upon  himself  to  the  mistress's  knowledge  without  actu 
ally  playing  the  tell-tale,  had  drawn  down  condign 
retribution  upon  the  perpetrator. 

In  a  twinkling,  the  secretary  had  the  key  to  the  pres 
ent  enigma.  Mrs.  Harrison  had  lost  the  ribbon-knot 
on  the  path  to  the  trysting-tree ;  it  was  found  by  the 
returning  party.  Evelyn  had  sent  her  page  over  with 
it  to  the  owner;  he  had  dropped  it,  and  not  discovered 
the  loss  until  he  reached  Berkeley  house.  He  was  now 
searching  for  it. 

Without  further  hesitation,  Bass  pocketed  the  trifle 
and  walked  right  on  to  meet  the  delinquent.  Caliban's 
black  eyes  were  rolling  perturbedly;  his  skin  was  the 
hue  of  a  dusty  copper-kettle;  his  violent  start  on  per 
ceiving  the  secretary  was  palpable  evidence  of  guilt. 
In  the  shock  of  the  meeting,  he  lowered  his  guard  so 
far  as  to  pull  off  his  cap  to  Bass,  who  would  have 
passed  without  speaking,  and  to  accost  the  last  man  to 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  71 

whom  he  would  in  ordinary  circumstances  have  applied 
for  information  or  help. 

"  Morn  in',  Mr.  Bass,  suh  !  You  ain'  happen  fur  to 
see  a  little  teeny  bundle  lyin'  roun'  nowhar  on  de  groun', 
is  you,  suh  ?" 

Bass  looked  him  over  from  head  to  foot  in  cold  dis 
dain,  and  moved  onward  without  halting  or  speaking. 
It  was  his  hour,  and  he  improved  it.  Beau  Brummell 
could  not  have  achieved  more  superb  nonchalance  if 
addressed  on  the  Mall  by  a  shabby  creditor. 

Caliban  stood  still  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  glower 
ing  after  his  enemy.  He  clenched  his  fists,  and  his  lips 
curled  back  from  gnashing  teeth.  The  savagery  in 
his  veins  leaped  past  the  merry,  devil-may-care  guise 
under  which  most  people  knew  him. 

"The  low-live'  limb  <>'  Satan!"  he  hissed.  "I'd 
give  my  hade  ter  know  ef  he  done  foun'  it.  I'd  ruther 
take  nine-'n-thirty  on  my  bar'  back  'n'  have  to  tell 
Mis'  Evelyn  I  los'  dat  bundle,  else  I  'ouldn'  'a'  let 
myself  down  so  fur  ez  to  ax  him  'bout  it, — de  low- 
down  honn' !" 

Nobody  was  astir  at  Berkeley  except  the  servants ; 
but  Bass  took  the  precaution  to  ask  for  Mrs.  Harrison's 
own  maid,  and  to  deliver  the  parcel  into  her  keeping, 
without  condescending  to  explanations,  and  doubled 
upon  his  track,  serene  in  the  consciousness  of  having 
done  the  woman  he  loved  a  good  turn,  and  a  foe  he 
despised  an  ill. 

Shrewd  and  cool-headed  as  he  was,  he,  like  every 
other  creature  of  mortal  mould,  had  his  pet  supersti 
tion. 

"  I  have  picked  up  two  valuables  within  twenty-four 


72  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

hours,"  he  said,  smiling  sourly  in  thinking  of  Lady 
Bess  and  the  voracious  gobbler.  "  The  third  will  be 
along  soon,  and  be  most  precious  of  all." 

The  morning  was  less  bright  than  at  dawn,  overcast 
by  clouds,  and  not  fogs.  He  recollected  Madam  Byrd's 
prognostications  of  falling  weather,  based  upon  the 
dewless  sward.  The  sun  had  arisen  luridly  before  he 
reached  Berkeley,  dyeing  the  river  blood-red.  The 
smoke  from  the  chimneys  of  the  Westover  "quarters" 
fell  and  spread  broadly  at  the  level  of  the  tree-tops; 
the  boding  cry  of  the  rain-crow  sounded  from  the 
church-yard  as  he  ncared  it.  His  scheming  brain  was 
usually  allowed  a  rest  before  breakfast.  His  matuti 
nal  tramp  was  conscientious  recreation.  He  was  sys 
tematically  as  kind  to  himself  as  he  knew  how  to  be, 
and  he  had  made  self-benevolence  a  study.  He  had 
walked  his  body  into  a  capital  appetite,  and  his  diges 
tive  apparatus  into  tone  that  would  justify  him  in  in 
dulging  his  palate.  What  he  had  observed  as  he  went 
along  was  considered  as  superficially  as  was  consistent 
with  his  principle  of  letting  nothing  escape  notice  or 
memory.  He  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  rusty-brown 
bird  of  ill-omen  flitting  from  one  branch  to  another 
and  uttering  his  discordant  cry,  and  having  scraped 
together  a  smattering  of  natural  history,  with  a  little 
of  everything  else  from  his  erudite  chief,  he  wondered 
why  even  colonial  ignoramuses  should  refer  the  creature 
to  the  genus  corvus. 

Down  the  central  alley  of  the  garden,  over  the  inter 
vening  paddock  and  past  the  chapel,  flitting  between 
the  tombstones,  and  so,  straight  to  where  he  had  paused, 
wonder-stricken  at  the  apparition,  Evelyn  Byrd  sped 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  73 

up  to  him.  Her  hat  was  in  her  hand,  having  evidently 
been  caught  up  as  she  ran  out  of  the  house ;  there  was 
not  a  tinge  of  color  in  her  face ;  her  eyes  were  wild 
with  fear. 

"  Mr.  Bass,"  she  began,  when  within  speaking  dis 
tance,  "  did  you  find — I  have  lost — that  is,  Caliban 

dropped — I  thought,  perhaps "  Here  breath  and 

voice  failed  her. 

Bass  plucked  off  his  cap  and  bowed  respectfully. 

"I  think  I  found  what  your  messenger  lost,  Miss 
Byrd.  I  carried  it  over  to  Berkeley,  and  sent  it  up 
to  Mrs.  Harrison.  I  hope  I  acted  wisely  ?" 

Every  one  of  his  measured  words  appeared  to  con 
vey  exquisite  relief.  She  clasped  her  hands,  and  looked 
up  at  him  as  to  a  deliverer. 

"  Wisely  !  Oh,  mon  dieu  !  How  can  I  thank  you  ? 
I  was  in  terror  lest " 

She  leaned  against  a  tree  and  burst  into  tears,  weep 
ing  so  violently  that  she  scarcely  knew  who  led  her 
gently  into  the  church-porch  and  seated  her  on  a 
bench.  Calming  herself  the  sooner  for  the  quiet  and 
seclusion  of  the  place,  she  smiled  presently,  still  with 
suffused  eyes,  at  seeing  Bass  fanning  her  with  the  hat 
she  had  let  fall. 

"Pardon  me.  I  was  very  silly,"  she  was  begin 
ning  to  say,  when  he  interrupted  with, — 

"  You  ran  too  rapidly,  and  the  morning  is  close. 
Such  an  attack  of  faint  ness  and  breathlessness  is  quite 
natural  in  the  circumstances.  Allow  me  to  explain 
that,  finding  the  parcel,  and  recognizing  to  whom  the 
ribbon  belonged,  I  guessed  that  she  had  lost  it  and  you 
found  it.  I  took  the  further  liberty  of  restoring  it  to 


74  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

the  owner.  The  whole  affair  is  perfectly  simple, — 
such  a  trifle  as  not  to  deserve  your  thanks." 

Evelyn  put  out  her  hand  impulsively.  He  took  it 
in  his  and  held  it  for  one  supreme,  intoxicating  second. 
He  had  never  touched  it  before.  The  distance  between 
him  and  the  daughter  of  the  house  was  an  established 
fact, — a  fixed  gulf.  His  breath  clogged  his  throat ; 
the  blood  beat  upon  his  brain  ;  he  staggered  a  step, 
and  rested  against  the  post  of  the  open  door. 

Unobservant  of  his  agitation,  Evelyn  ran  on,  not 
yet  coherently, — 

"You  have  done  me  a  signal  kindness — and  Mrs. 
Harrison  a  favor.  I  was  so  terrified  when  Caliban 
told  me  of  his  carelessness — and  the  time  was  so  short 
— that  I  fear  me  I  behaved  strangely  enough.  Forgive 
rny  folly.  I  slept  ill  last  night, — if,  indeed,  I  slept  at 
all." 

"On  account  of  that  wretched  child,"  escaped  Bass's 
lips  before  he  could  catch  himself  up. 

Evelyn  blushed  painfully  while  trying  to  speak 
gavly. 

"  Do  not  cast  the  blame  upon  poor  little  Bess.  She 
slept  soundly  enough.  I  was  but  trying  to  show  you 
that  there  are  excuses  for  my  weakness.  You  will  not 
betray  it  to  others — or  think  of  it  again,  I  am  sure?" 
with  a  look  that  ravished  his  wits. 

"Never  while  I  live!"  he  protested,  earnestly  and 
absurdly. 

"Nay!  a  less  vehement  oath  would  suffice!"  She 
looked  and  spoke  like  her  usual  self,  and  arose  with 
maidenly  dignity.  "  It  was  a  kind  thought  to  bring 
rne  hither.  There  are  strength  and  comfort  in  the  very 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  75 

air  of  a  church,"  glancing  into  the  cool  shadows  of  the 
interior.  "  The  winter  we  spent  in  Rome,  I  used  to  go 
with  only  my  maid  to  St.  Peter's,  and  sit  there  a  long 
time,  thinking  out  perplexing  things.  The  place  and  the 
spirit  pervading  it  helped  me.  I  could  not  tell  why." 

"Yet  you  are  not  a  Catholic?" 

He  had  put  his  hand  under  her  elbow,  as  any  man, 
even  a  footman,  might,  as  she  descended  the  two  steps 
of  the  porch,  and  still  dizzy  with  the  renewed  throb 
and  thrill  of  the  contact,  spoke  at  random. 

She  turned  suddenly  upon  him,  lips  ready  for  speech 
as  impetuous  as  the  movement,  then  checked  the 
impulse,  and  walked  beside  him  for  a  silent  minute,  her 
face  toward  the  river  and  averted  from  him. 

"Not  a  Roman  Catholic  !"  came  at  length,  in  a  tone 
that  was  all  gentleness.  "But  I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  the  communion  of  saints.  We 
are  too  prone  to  forget  who  said,  *  Other  sheep  I  have 
that  are  not  of  this  fold.' " 

"She  got  that  from  her  ghostly  director,"  meditated 
Bass.  And  still  inly,  "  -  -  him  !" 

Instead  of  following  the  walk  leading  to  the  garden, 
Evelyn  had  taken  one  skirting  the  river-bank,  then 
bending  towards  a  tall  iron  gate  capped  by  the  Byrd 
coat-of-arms,  that  gave  upon  rose-walk  and  lawn.  She 
moved  languidly,  and  neither  offered  further  remark 
until  they  were  at  the  squared  stone  steps  before  the 
front  door  of  the  mansion. 

The  day  could  not  breathe  under  the  blue-black  pall 
rolling  up  all  around  the  horizon;  the  water  was  like 
slow  molten  lead  ;  the  leaves  of  the  poplars  lay  back 
flat  against  the  stems,  the  whitish  under  side  upward. 


7G  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  It  will  rain  of  a  certainty,"  Evelyn  aroused  herself 
to  say,  pausing  upon  the  platform. 

"  The  Jamestown  sloop  is  lucky  in  that  she  goes  down 
with  the  tide,"  answered  Bass. 

He  had  no  small-talk  at  his  command,  but  feeling 
for  the  first  time  on  a  level  with  her,  unconsciously 
imitated  the  tone  and  ways  of  those  other  men  he  had 
hated  for  enjoying  the  right  to  lounge  beside  her  in  her 
walks,  sit  by  her  when  she  sat,  and  chatter  society 
banalities.  In  another  moment  she  would  be  gone.  He 
would  detain  her  while  he  could. 

"  Mon  dicu  /"  broke  from  her  a  second  time.  She 
leaned  forward  eagerly  to  look  out  upon  the  river  to 
where  a  small  vessel,  with  but  half  her  rigging  un 
furled,  wallowed  sluggishly  down  the  channel. 

As  if  fascinated,  the  girl  continued  to  watch  her  until 
she  was  on  a  line  with  the  dock.  Irresolution,  doubt, 
fear,  and  vivid  gleams  of  a  light  the  observer  could  not 
define,  appeared  and  were  gone,  like  shadows  upon 
water.  In  the  delusive  atmosphere  presaging  storm, 
the  craft  seemed  so  near  one  might  have  hailed  her 
with  hope  of  a  reply. 

"  I  suppose  it  would  be  quite  possible  to  stay  her 
even  now,  if  one  wished/'  said  Evelyn,  in  forced 
levity.  u  My  voice  is  not  strong,  but  if  I  should  make 
a  speaking-trumpet  of  my  hands,  thus,  and  halloo,  the 
sailors  would  hear  me,  would  they  not  ?  If  I  were  to 
bethink  myself  of  something  to  be  sent  to  my  friend, 
Mistress  Martha  Jaqueline,  the  captain  could  heave  to, 
have  the  helm  turned  inland,  and  come  into  the  West- 
over  dock,  could  he  not?  I  would  fain  try." 

"Oberon  would  mistake  it  for  Titania's  call !"  ven- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  77 

tured  the  enchanted  secretary  in  clumsy  compliment  ; 
"or  a  troop  of  obedient  fairies,  headed  by  Puck,  would 
troop  up  the  lawn." 

He  thought  the  turn  neat,  and  was  somewhat  dashed 
in  spirits  that  she  paid  no  attention  to  it.  She  was  so 
distracting! y  lovely  in  her  capricious  changes  of  mood 
and  countenance,  that  he  could  have  stayed  to  watch  her 
all  day,  had  she  given  him  never  another  word  or  look, 
only  leaned  forward  in  that  attitude  of  eager,  almost 
expectant  grace,  hardly  seeming  to  breathe  while  follow 
ing  the  vessel  with  her  beautiful  eyes. 

He  knew  so  little  of  women's  witcheries  and  weak 
ness,  that  when  the  sloop  had  slipped  down  a  bow-shot 
below  the  wharf,  and,  throwing  out  another  sail,  tacked 
boldly  for  the  other  shore,  and  Evelyn,  with  a  low  cry, 
"  She  has  gone  /"  sank,  a  breathless  heap,  at  his  feet,  he 
was  wholly  unprepared  for  a  revulsion  so  entire  and 
alarming. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

A  MESSENGER  on  a  bare-backed  mule  trotted  over 
from  Berkeley  through  the  pouring  rain  that  afternoon. 
Mr.  Harrison  had  been  taken  seriously  ill  during  the 
night,  and  grown  so  much  worse  by  noon  that  the 
neighborhood  physician  had  been  sent  for.  At  four 
o'clock  he  had  not  arrived.  The  errand  of  the  drip 
ping  Mercury  was  to  beg  of  Madam  Byrd  one  of  the 
simples  for  the  preservation  and  use  of  which  she  had 
a  reputation,  and  that  she  would  look  in  upon  the 
patient  as  soon  as  the  weather  would  permit. 


78  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

She  ordered  her  chariot  forthwith,  and  stocked  it 
with  the  desired  remedy  in  abundance,  eight  or  ten 
bundles  of  herbs,  and  as  many  gallipots  and  phials, 
with  a  supply  of  jelly,  broth,  and  gruel  that  would 
have  nourished  the  ward  of  a  city  hospital.  The 
county  held  not  a  better  or  a  more  willing  nurse,  and 
that  she  knew  her  worth  in  this  regard  did  not  make 
her  otherwise  than  gentle  and  efficient  in  the  hour  of 
need. 

Instead  of  returning  home  that  night,  she  sent  back 
for  a  change  of  clothing,  and  held  the  fort  against  sur 
prise  and  siege  by  deatli  for  four  days.  Evelyn,  still 
pallid  from  the  indisposition  that  had  overtaken  her 
on  the  morning  succeeding  the  riverside  ramble,  spent 
part  of  eacli  day  with  her  afflicted  friend,  but  was 
regularly  ordered  home  before  sunset  by  the  corn- 
mander-in-chief,  whom  even  the  surgeon  durst  not 
gainsay. 

"She  will  be  coming  down  next,"  complained 
Madam  on  the  fifth  day,  which  was  Sunday,  to  Mrs. 
Carter,  who  had  prolonged  her  visit  to  Westover  at  the 
earnest  petition  of  the  hostess  and  her  step-daughter. 
"She  looks  like  a  puff  of  air  would  lift  her  now.  I 
have  ever  insisted  that  September  is  the  sickliest  month 
of  the  year  in  the  low  country,  and  mayhap,  when  I 
and  my  poor  children  are  food  for  worms,  Colonel 
Eyrd  may  come  around  to  my  way  of  thinking.  That 
girl  has  wasted  to  a  shadow  in  less  than  a  week.  I 
have  put  her  upon  port  and  bark  to-day,  and  would 
be  obliged  if  you  will  see  that  she  takes  it  thrice  a  day. 
Also,  bid  Osiris  prepare  a  bottle  one-quarter  full  of 
well-rusted  nails  and  filled  up  with  hard  cider,  of 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  79 

which  she  should  take  a  glassful  at  rising  and  another 
at  bed-time.  Were  it  not  that  Mr.  Fontaine  and  she 
appear  to  be  on  such  excellent  terms,  I  should  suspect 
a  lover's  quarrel.  The  Lord  forgive  me  for  naming 
him  or  any  other  man  as  her  lover,  and  her  father 
away  from  home  ! 

"I'm  reckoning  high  upon  Martha  Jaqueline's 
coming  to  cheer  Evelyn  up,  and  the  English  gallant 
will  doubtless  divert  her  from  the  dumps.  And  this 
is  what  I  wanted  to  see  you  about.  I've  fairly  wor 
ried  Anne  Harrison  into  agreeing  that  they  shall  be 
put  off  at  our  wharf,  instead  of  at  Berkeley.  It  stands 
to  reason  that  her  husband  will  be  driven  fair  beside 
himself  to  have  such  junkettings  and  curvettings  in 
the  house  as  go  with  Martha  Jaqueline  everywhere,  to 
say  naught  of  his  wife's  place  being  at  his  side.  Stay 
you,  then,  at  Westover  and  play  duenna  to  the  young 
folk  until  I  can  come  back,  which,  please  GOD,  will 
be  soon,  if  Ben  grow  no  worse.  I  have  a  soft  spot  in 
my  heart  for  him,  now  he's  in  so  sore  a  case." 

"  She  has  a  soft  spot  for  everybody  who  is  in  trouble, 
I  think,"  said  Mrs.  Carter,  in  repeating  the  talk  over 
the  dinner-table  to  Evelyn  and  Mr.  Fontaine,  the  taci 
turn  carver  at  the  foot  of  the  board  counting  for  noth 
ing.  "She  has  a  marvellous  head,  too,  as  you  would 
know  had  you  heard  the  messages  sent  by  me  to  the 
servants.  I  prayed  leave  to  write  them  down.  My 
brain  would  not  carry  them.  Yet  she  forgot  naught 
from  guest-chamber  to  cellar.  She  even  named  the 

o 

men  who  are  to  man  the  boat  to  be  sent  off  from  the 
wharf  to  stay  the  sloop  on  her  way  to  Berkeley.  She 
will  herself  write  the  note  to  Martha  conveying  the 


80  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

invitation  and  giving  reason  for  the  change  of  plan, 
which  is  to  be  sent  in  the  boat.  It  would  best  come 
from  her,  she  says,  and  not  from  you,  Evelyn." 

Mr.  Fontaine  lent  the  narrator  courteous  but  divided 
attention ;  for  Evelyn's  fork  had  fallen  from  her 
hand  and  the  glass  of  water  she  lifted  to  her  lips 
shook.  She  caught  his  eye  before  lie  could  look  away. 
Her  glance  was  that  of  a  hunted  thing  ready  to  fly, 
yet  entangled  beyond  the  possibility  of  moving.  She 
drank  hastily,  set  down  the  tumbler  and  laughed, 
strainedly;  her  voice  was  almost  sharp, — 

"  Fate  is  fate !"  she  cried.  "  Martha  had  no  right 
to  promise  Anne  Harrison  a  visit  that  should  have  been 
mine.  I  shall  tell  her  so,  and  show  how  destiny  is  on 
the  side  of  equity.  And,  then,  we  will  do  our  bravest 
to  reconcile  her  to  the  exchange  of  residence  and — 
mamma's  absence." 

The  others  laughed  at  the  demure  addenda.  Madam 
Byrd's  wordy  encounters  with  Mistress  Martha  were 
historical.  Colonel  Byrd  likened  them  to  the  English 
and  French  forces,  and  took  huge  delight  in  pitting 
them  against  one  another. 

"  Mistress  Martha  is  proficient  with  the  rapier,"  he 
said.  "Madam  will  have  no  weapon  but  the  broad 
sword.  Both  are  fair  marksmen  ;  but  one  has  skill  in 
pistol-practice,  while  the  other  brings  the  blunderbuss 
up  to  her  shoulder  and  draws  a  fine  bead  upon  her  man, 
in  honest  British  fashion." 

Mrs.  Carter's  reply  was  not,  then,  so  irrelevant  as  it 
sounded. 

"Madam  Byrd  deserves  all  the  more  praise,  these 
things  being  so.  Her  orders  are  that  all  hospitable 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  81 

honors  shall  be  done  your  friend  and  '  Edward  Jaque- 
line's  daughter.'  Her  respect  for  his  memory  is  great." 

"Colony  and  church  had  an  incurable  loss  in  his 
death,"  rejoined  Mr.  Fontaine,  and  led  the  talk  to 
reminiscences  of  one  of  the  noblest,  as  he  was  one  of 
the  wealthiest,  men  of  his  day  and  region. 

Evelyn's  friendliness  towards  the  rector  was  marked 
for  the  rest  of  the  day.  Encouraged  by  it,  he  drew  a 
chair  to  her  side  as  she  sat  awhile  before  sunset  in  the 
middle  of  the  hall,  Lady  Bess  on  her  knee,  and  the  big 
Dutch  Bible,  clamped  at  the  corners  with  massive 
ornaments  of  wrought  brass,  upon  the  table  before 
them. 

Bess  was  in  a  Sabbath  mood,  oddly  dissimilar  to  that 
in  which  she  had  menaced  her  brother  and  the  Byrd 
children  with  clenched  fist  and  flashing  eyes  from  too 
near  approach  to  what  she  had  pre-empted  as  her  pre 
serves, — Evelyn's  lap,  and  Evelyn's  talk  of  the  curi 
ous  engravings  embellishing  the  mighty  volume.  Her 
golden  poll  rested  against  her  guardian's  shoulder ;  her 
chubby  hands  were  pressed  together  like  thoughts 
adjusting  themselves  for  prayer;  her  eyes  were  clear 
and  rapt ;  even  her  smile  was  serenely  slow.  Her  chas 
tened  beauty  would  have  made  her  fond  mother  tremble 
for  the  continued  life  of  her  darling,  had  she  been  there 

O  ' 

to  see,  instead  of  having  gone  again  to  Berkeley  for  the 
latest  news  of  the  beloved  patient. 

The  great  book  lay  open  at  a  picture  which  teacher 
and  pupil  were  contemplating  seriously  as  Mr.  Fontaine 
joined  them.  It  was  a  fearfully  realistic  representation 
of  the  scourging  in  Pilate's  hall.  The  hands  of  the 
victim  were  tied  at  the  wrists  to  an  iron  rin  made  fast 


82  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

ill  a  pillar  ;  behind  the  executioner  was  a  Roman  soldier, 
holding  a  bundle  of  fresh  rods  ;  a  lean,  wicked-eyed 
dog  crept  up  to  lick  the  bloody  pedestal. 

Evelyn  looked  up  mutely  at  the  rector's  approach, 
then,  again,  as  silently  to  the  awful  object-lesson.  Lady 
Bess  said  with  sugared  imperiousness, — 

"  'Oo  wead  'e  hard  words,  Misser  Fonten." 

"  Papa  read  the  Latin  to  her  one  day,  and  the  sound 
pleased  her  ear,"  added  Evelyn.  "  One  might  almost 
believe  that  she  comprehended  their  meaning." 

The  reverent  voice  of  the  scholar  rendered  the  in 
scription, — "  Vulneratus  est  propter  iniquitates  nostras  ; 
attritus  est  propter  scelera  nostra :  disdplina  pads  nostrse 
super  eum,  et  livore  eius  sanatl  sumus." 

"  Fitty  !  p'itty  !"  sighed  Bess,  satisfiedly. 

Evelyn's  eyes  brimmed  with  warm,  sweet  tears.  She 
raised  her  hand  furtively  to  brush  them  away  before 
she  spoke, — 

"  A  strange  impulse  came  to  me  this  morning  in 
church,"  without  looking  up.  "Something  tempted 
me  to  wait  on  my  knees  until  the  others  had  departed ; 
then  to  ask  you  to  listen  to  my  confession,  and  to  ab 
solve  me.  Are  you  displeased?  Have  I  shocked 
you  ?" 

He  was  serious,  but  not  stern,  to  her  arch  pleading. 
Beyond  the  seriousness  was  the  steady  glow  of  a  pure 
fire  that  illumined  the  fine  face.  He  laid  a  finger  im 
pressively  upon  the  bowed  Figure  in  the  picture: 

"  There  is  the  only  Confessor  !  '  DiscipUna  pads  nos- 
trce  super  eum!'  Unto  Him  is  the  cry  of  the  human 
heart :  '  O  Lamb  of  GOD,  who  takest  away  the  sins  of 
the  world,  have  mercy  upon  us  !' " 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  83 

"  He  is  afar  off,  Mr.  Fontaine."  Her  mouth  trem 
bled  ;  more  tears  were  ready  to  fall. 

"Dear  Miss  Byrd,  no  earthly  friend  is  so  near. 
Surely  you  know  this  !" 

She  shook  her  head,  setting  her  teeth  upon  her  lower 
lip  to  control  the  quiver. 

"  Once, — perhaps !  Of  late,  my  prayers  rise  no 
higher  than  my  head." 

Fontaine's  theology  would  not  second  the  plea  put  in 
by  his  heart  for  the  beloved  sinner,  that  the  symptoms 
of  physical  malaise  were  often  confounded  with  those 
of  spiritual  disorder.  He  was  a  priest,  and  a  con 
scientious  one. 

"  That  would  seem  to  show  that  something  had  come 
between  your  soul  and  GOD,"  he  said,  fearlessly. 

She  winced  and  blenched  as  at  a  needle-prick.  Her 
eyes  returned  to  the  stricken  Form,  the  cruel  scourges, 
the  creeping  cur. 

"Yet  you  will  not  confess  me?  Will  not  appoint 
me  a  penance?  Will  not  absolve  me?" 

Each  whispered  word  was  a  tempter  to  the  man 
within  him.  Had  his  Protestantism  been  of  a  more 
ductile  type,  he  would  have  crossed  himself  and  said  a 
mental  exorcism. 

"GoD  forbid!"  he  said,  fervently.  "He  knows, 
too,  how  every  thought  of  you  is  a  prayer  that  His 
peace  may  possess  your  soul " 

She  interrupted  him.  "That  is  a  pax  vobiscum! 
Thank  you  !  Whether  you  meant  it  or  not,  it  does 
my  sotd  good  like  a  medicine." 

"  Yady  Bess  don'  yike  nossy  med'cin' !"  commented 
the  cherub,  in  pensive  dissent. 


84  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Fontaine  answered  as  if  Evelyn  had  said  it :  "  Old 
Samuel  Rutherford  writes  to  an  afflicted  friend,  'Be 
sure  the  Lord  must  love  you  very  much,  or  He  would 
not  give  you  so  much  and  so  bitter  medicine.'  The 
saying  has  helped  me,  oft  and  again." 

"'So  much  and  so  bitter  medicine!''  repeated 
Evelyn,  musingly.  "  Suppose  one  had  lived  upon 
that — and  little  else — for  years  and  years;  had  it 
mingled  with  his  bread  and  drink ;  found  each  morn 
ing  at  rising  the  bitter  draught  set  at  his  bedside;  in 
every  scene  of  pleasure  felt  the  acrid  drops  upon  his 
lip, — would  that  soul  be  sickly  or  healthy,  think  you, 
Sir  Priest?" 

"The  Great  Physician  makes  no  mistakes.  The  cup 
given  to  each  man  to  drink  is  for  himself,  and  no  other. 
Health  and  sickness  depend  upon  the  spirit  in  which 
the  draught  is  swallowed." 

"  Is  nothing  sweet  wholesome  ?" 

She  asked  it  abruptly.  His  soothing  voice  atoned 
for  the  didacticism  of  the  reply  :  "  With  GOD'S  blessing, 
the  bitter  is  sweet !" 

Lady  Bess  twisted  herself  around  to  cast  her  arms 
about  her  friend's  neck. 

"  Mine  Eva  is  sweet !"  kissing  her  fast  and  hard. 
"Mine  Eva!  Her  is  nobody's  Eva  but  jus'  on'y 
mine !" 

A  crimson  rush  suffused  the  girl's  face, — a  blush 
that  burned  and  hurt  by  the  impetuosity  of  the  tide. 
Without  a  sound,  she  snatched  up  the  child  and  carried 
her  off  up  the  stairs. 

Fontaine  had  arisen  with  her,  and  stood  gazing  at 
the  lauding  where  she  had  disappeared,  a  flush  like 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  85 

the  reflection  of  her  blush  upon  his  olive  cheek.  A 
chuckle  from  the  door  of  the  study  aroused  him  from 
his  stupefaction.  Bass  was  coming  out  of  the  room, 
hat  in  hand,  bound  upon  his  evening  walk.  He  might 
have  seen  and  heard  all  that  had  passed  in  the  hall. 
He  might  be  ignorant  of  everything  except  Evelyn's 
flight  and  his  surprise. 

The  secretary  sneered  openly  in  glancing  at  the  open 
tome ; — "  So  endeth  the  second  lesson  !" 

It  was  dignified  and  characteristic  that  Fontaine 
feigned  not  to  catch  the  purport  of  the  sentence,  im 
perfectly  smothered  behind  the  scoffer's  teeth,  as  he 
walked  leisurely  past  him  to  the  door.  The  rector 
resumed  his  seat  and  seemed  to  study  the  ancient 
print. 

Twenty  years  later,  on  another  summer  afternoon 
sitting  with  his  little  son  upon  his  knee,  he  happened 
to  turn  the  leaves  to  the  same  picture,  and  blinding 
mists  of  memory  drove  between  it  and  his  eyes;  resur 
gent  waves  of  emotion  beat  him  faint  for  an  instant; 
his  temples  throbbed,  and  his  heart  ached  again  under 
the  weight  of  anger  and  love  striving  together  for 
mastery  in  a  soul  that  would  not  stoop  to  use  weapons 
he  began  to  perceive  were  directed  against  him  by  his 
inferior  and  rival. 


86  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  wind  blew  straight  from  the  sea  next  morning, 
dissipating  the  fog  that  had  lain  like  soft  wool  upon 
the  lawn  all  night.  It  left  the  glitter  of  diamond)* 
upon  every  blade  of  grass  and  freshened  the  late  roses 
into  the  richness  of  early  summer.  The  "Westovi-r 
household  was  astir  as  early  as  if  the  mistress  were  to 
preside  in  person  over  the  preparations  for  the  guests. 
As  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to  discern  the  close  seams 
in  the  oaken  flooring,  the  rub  and  squeak  of  waxed 
brushes  were  resonant  in  halls  and  lower  rooms.  The 
kitchen-hearth,  never  cold  from  Christmas  to  Christ 
mas,  prevented  the  dawn  with  its  glow;  an  army  of 
retainers,  under  the  direction  of  an  tipper  servant  in 
each  department,  wrought  with  diligence,  and  what  was 
for  negroes  and  half-breeds,  despatch,  until  by  the  time 
the  Jamestown  sloop,  flying  the  English  and  French 
colors,  appeared  at  the  lower  bend  of  the  river,  bustle 
was  exchanged  for  the  calm  of  conscious  readiness. 

The  great  lawn  was  swept  clean  of  withered  leaves; 
the  gravel  walks  were  rolled  ;  the  crisp  folds  of  fresh 
curtains  swayed  in  the  open  windows ;  tall  jars  of 
roses,  bergamot,  lilies,  and  southern-wood  were  upon 
mantels  and  stands ;  and,  as  the  lookout  set  upon  the 
house-top  ran  down  with  the  news  that  the  sails  were 
in  sight,  a  hospitable  party  left  the  front  door  for  the 
pier. 

As  was  fit  in  the  absence  of  her  parents,  Evelyn  came 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  87 

first.  Mr.  Fontaine  was  at  her  side,  and  Lady  Bess 
hung  upon  her  other  hand.  Mrs.  Carter  was  escorted 
by  Master  Willy  Byrd,  a  handsome  urchin  of  eight ; 
but  the  secretary  walked  beside  her,  and  behind  them 
were  Charley  Carter,  Jane  and  Mary  Byrd,  demure  and 
best-frocked,  under  the  surveillance  of  Mammy  Teena, 
the  head-nurse.  Sally,  Bess's  custodian,  off  duty  for 
the  time,  brought  up  the  rear  with  Caliban.  No  matter 
who  came  or  who  went,  the  smart  servitor  was  to  the 
fore, — partly  because  of  native  audacity  and  the  favor 
of  master  and  mistress,  partly  because  he  was  clever  and 
handy.  His  ostensible  business  on  the  present  occasion 
was  to  bring  up  from  the  wharf  such  light  luggage  as 
the  owners  might  not  care  to  commit  to  the  handling 
of  the  liveried  boatmen  waiting  upon  the  bank  for  the 
arrival  of  the  vessel. 

The  wind  was  with  her,  and  she  had  flung  out  every 
stitch  of  canvas ;  the  spray  broke  whitely  over  her 
prow. 

"  There  is  positively  a  Cleopatra-barge-ish  look  about 
her !"  said  Evelyn  to  her  companions.  "  It  would  sound 
like  profanation  to  tell  how  she  came  up  last  week  with 
potatoes  and  oysters  in  her  hold." 

"  One  might  know  that  Martha  Jaqueline  is  on 
board,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Carter  in  like  mirthful  vein. 
"  Nothing  ever  goes  fast  enough  for  her,  be  it  a  horse, 
a  vessel,  or  a  human  being.  She  will  not  live  out  half 
her  days." 

Evelyn  flung  back  a  laughing  retort,  and  walked 
more  swiftly  down  the  incline.  A  marvellous  trans 
formation  had  come  over  her  in  twelve  hours.  At  bed 
time  last  night,  as  Mrs.  Carter  silently  reflected,  she 


88  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

looked — although  nothing  could  make  her  unbeautiful 
— fully  thirty  years  of  age.  To-day,  but  for  the  per 
fection  of  her  figure  and  the  easy  elegance  of  carriage 
that  bespoke  familiarity  with  the  fashionable  world,  she 
might  have  been  eighteen.  Over  her  shoulders  she  had 
cast  a  blue  crepe  shawl, — an  Indian  fabric,  as  was  the 
white  embroidered  muslin  of  her  gown.  The  sea-wind, 
or  the  joyful  anticipation  of  meeting  her  friend,  had 
brought  soft,  yet  brilliant  bloom  to  her  cheeks;  there 
was  a  happy  flutter  in  her  laugh,  her  eyes  were  wells 
of  changeful  light.  The  kindly  neighbor  considered, 
furthermore,  that  the  visit  of  an  intimate  friend  whom 
she  had  not  seen  for  a  twelvemonth,  was  no  trivial  event 
in  the  life  of  one  who  had  known  little  of  gay  life  of 
late,  and  yet  had  had  so  much  of  it  in  her  girlish  prime. 
After  all  her  reasoning  and  indulgent  allowance  for 
circumstance,  she  was  forced  to  appreciate  the  existence 
of  an  underlying  force  the  nature  of  which  was  a  secret. 
The  girl  had  drunk  of  the  elixir  of  life  between  sunset 
and  sunrise. 

Neither  of  the  men,  whose  observation  of  the  belle 
of  the  county  was,  to  say  the  least,  as  close  as  that  of 
her  nominal  duenna,  detected  anything  equivocal  in  the 
restored  bloom  and  animation  that  gave  lustre  to  her 
loveliness.  Fontaine,  standing  at  her  side,  Bass,  a  little 
behind  her,  as  the  sloop  headed  for  the  pier,  saw  the 
delicate  hands  seek  and  clasp  each  other  until  the  flesh 
was  bloodless,  and  her  whole  form  shaken  by  irregular 
respiration,  and  both  thought  the  agitation  altogether 
natural  and  becoming. 

The  gangway  had  scarcely  touched  shore  when  a  lithe 
figure,  in  a  costume  which  Mrs.  Carter  at  once  discovered 

O  / 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  89 

was  Parisian  and  ravishing,  darted  down  the  tilted  plank 
to  throw  herself  into  Evelyn's  arms,  with  a  shower  of 
French  ejaculations,  mostly  diminutives, — the  more  re 
markable  that  the  new-comer  was  half  a  head  shorter 
than  she  who  was  thus  saluted.  At  a  prudent  distance, 
picking  her  steps  gingerly,  followed  a  woman  with  wasp- 
like  waist  and  stature  like  a  grenadier's.  She  was  attired 
in  a  stuff  gown  of  rusty  black ;  a  voluminous  calash,  like 
the  top  of  a  Conestoga  wagon,  protected  a  mob-cab, 
and  within  the  fluted  borders  of  this  were  the  smallest 
head  and  face  that  could,  by  any  elasticity  of  imagina 
tion,  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the  grenadier's  height. 

This  was  Miss  Lotsie  Johnson,  companion,  house 
keeper,  ci-devant  nursery-governess, — a  little  of  every 
thing  and  a  good  deal  of  most  good  things  to  the 
Jaqueline  household.  She  was  led  by  the  captain  of 
the  sloop,  who  held  the  tips  of  her  mittened  fingers  as 
if  afraid  they  might  break  forth  into  talons. 

Lastly, — having  waited,  courteously,  until  both  ladies 
were  safely  landed, — a  man  ran  down  the  steep  gang 
way.  In  touching  the  pier,  he  bared  a  head  covered 
with  close  blonde  curls,  undisfigured  by  the  powder 
which  most  men  of  fashion  wore  in  abundance. 

"  Mistress  Evelyn  Byrd,"  said  Miss  Jaqueline's  clear 
soprano,  French  in  pitch  and  accent,  "  I  have  the  very 
great  pleasure  of  presenting  to  you  my  friend,  Mr. 
Francis,  of  London.  He  was  my  fellow-voyager  over 
the  ocean,  and  has  been  for  some  days  the  honored 
guest  of  my  mother  at  Jamestown." 

"I  am  glad  Madam  is  not  here  to  note  that  intro 
duction,"  thought  Mrs.  Carter.  "  Mistress  Martha  has 
assuredly  picked  up  a  fine  art  or  two  at  Court." 

8* 


90  II IX   C  If  EAT  SELF. 

Miss  Byrd  curtesied  low,  her  eyes  on  the  ground,  her 
color  wavering  enchantingly,  then  going  out,  so  that  a 
very  pale  face  met  the  gaze  of  respectful  admiration 
bent  upon  her,  as  the  stranger  recovered  himself  from 
a  bow  as  profound  as  her  curtesy. 

Mistress  Martha,  considering  apparently  that  the 
claims  of  etiquette  were  satisfied  by  the  length  and 
ceremony  of  her  presentation-speech,  now  absorbed 
within  herself  general  attention  by  voluble  embraces 
distributed  among  Mrs.  Carter,  the  little  girls,  Willy 
and  Charley,  and  shaking  hands  with  everybody  else, 
beginning  with  Mr.  Fontaine  and  ending  with  Caliban. 
She  was  popular  with  people  of  all  grades,  but  par 
ticularly  and  immensely  witii  children  and  the  lower 
classes.  Caliban  adored  her  as  second  of  created  things, 
his  young  mistress  rating  as  first ;  the  boys,  deserting 
all  others,  clave  to  her  forthwith.  She  shed  upon  Mr. 
Fontaine  the  sunniest  of  her  smiles  in  giving  him  a 
reticule  of  gilded  leather  to  carry,  telling  him  that  it 
contained  "  beaucoup  de  tresor"  and  handed  a  small 
casket  to  the  secretary. 

"I  know  of  old  whose  discretion  to  trust,"  coquet- 
tishly.  "  Nobody  but  Mr.  Bass  shall  handle  Pandora's 
box.  Mr.  Fontaine !  I  am  going  to  beg  the  support  of 
your  arm  up  the  terraces.  I  saw  from  the  sloop  that 
Mr.  Bass  had  the  honor  of  escorting  Mrs.  Carter. 
Evelyn,  here  is  Mr.  Francis  a-dying  to  ask  for  the 
pleasure  of  your  company.  Now,  boys  and  girls,  I 
have  something  in  my  portmanteau  for  the  one  who  has 
grown  fastest  in  the  past  year,  and  I  can't  see  who  is  to 
have  it  unless  you  all  walk  in  a  line  like  soldiers  ahead 
of  us.  March  !  forward  !  heads  up  and  toes  out !" 


HIS  ORE  AT  SELF.  91 

There  was  one  exception  to  the  omnipotence  of  her 
fascination.  Lady  Bess,  at  Miss  Jaqneline's  approach, 
promptly  wrapped  her  head  in  Evelyn's  muslin  skirt, 
and  shrugged  a  mutinous  shoulder  when  her  mother 
implored  her  to  reply  to  the  young  lady's  blandish 
ments.  When  curiosity,  and  pique  at  being  taken  at 
her  word  drew  her  from  her  covert,  she  carried  her  nose 
high  in  air  and  affected  utter  unconsciousness  of  the 
interloper's  presence,  holding  fast  all  the  while  to 
Evelyn's  hand. 

Miss  Jaqueline  laughed,  well  content  and  amused. 

"  True  to  her  first  love  !  No  blame  to  you,  monkey  ! 
She  is  ever  and  ever  so  much  better  worth  the  loving 
than  I.  And  people  who  love  her  once,  love  her  ever, 
I  find.  I  like  you  the  better  for  the  excellent  taste  you 
display." 

The  procession,  headed  by  the  children  in  line  of 
march,  as  directed  by  their  divinity,  and  ending  with 
Mam'  Teena  and  Miss  Lotsie,  hobnobbing  in  friendly 
familiarity,  was  followed  at  a  gradually-widening 
distance  by  Evelyn  and  Mr.  Francis.  The  sea-breeze 
tempered  the  heat  of  approaching  noon,  but  could  not 
make  the  day  cool,  and  Lady  Bess's  short  legs  flagged 
in  ascending  the  hill.  The  path  ran  parallel  with  the 
river-wall  for  a  hundred  yards  or  so,  then  arose  by 
stone  steps  laid  in  the  bank,  and  zigzagging  easily  up 
to  the  brow  of  the  hill.  A  low  wall  of  masonry  over 
run  with  vines  defended  the  wall  from  the  wash  and 
drift  of  heavy  rains.  None  of  the  party  in  front  looked 
back  until  the  last  terrace  was  gained.  Martha  Jaque 
line  talked  incessantly,  her  voice  ringing  above  the 
children's  prattle,  Mam'  Teena's  gutturals  and  Miss 


92  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Lutsie's  harsh,  chopping  tones,  that,  according  to 
Martha,  "  would  not  be  unmusical  if  her  vocal  organs 
could  be  taken  apart,  cleaned  and  oiled." 

"  There  is  a  balm  for  every  bane,"  said  that  vivacious 
young  woman,  pausing  at  the  lower  gate  of  the  lawn  to 
take  breath  and  face  her  audience.  "  We,  whose  lot  is  cast 
in  a  region  where  the  rise  of  land  in  every  mile  is  less 
than  an  inch,  ought  to  live  longer  than  you  who  waste 
lungs  and  limbs  in  riotous  climbing.  Yet  Westover  is 
beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  river." 

"I  am  afraid  Bess  may  be  troublesome,"  Mrs.  Carter 
was  saying  anxiously,  apart  to  Mr.  Fontaine.  "  My 
mind  misgave  me  in  leaving  her  so  far  behind.  I 
should  have  insisted  upon  releasing  Evelyn  from  the 
care  of  her,  especially  as  she  is  in  company  with  a 
stranger." 

"  I  will  go  back  and  fetch  her  to  you,"  was  the 
response,  so  promptly  given  and  acted  upon  that  he  was 
beyond  the  nearest  turn  in  the  crooked  path  before 
remonstrance  could  be  offered. 

A  flush  darkened  Martha  Jaqtieline's  mobile  face; 
she  compressed  her  lips  ;  her  black  eyes  opened  and 
closed  fast  and  repeatedly, — a  trick  of  her  impatient 
moods,  which  were  not  a  few.  Colin  Bass  looked  from 
her  to  Mrs.  Carter's  embarrassed  countenance,  and 
queried  inly  why  both  should  be  averse  to  breaking  the 
virtual  t&te-h-ttte  between  Miss  Jaqueline's  admirer  and 
a  more  beautiful  woman  than  she. 

Fontaine  caught  sight  of  the  loiterers  from  the  second 
terrace.  Lady  Bess  had  been  lifted  to  the  top  of  the 
wall  and  sat  there  at  her  ease,  swinging  her  dumpy  legs. 
Evelyn's  back  was  towards  the  unseen  spectator,  but 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  93 

something  iu  the  droop  of  her  head  and  slight  but 
eloquent  inclination  of  the  graceful  figure  made  his 
heart  sink  in  unreasonable  pain.  Thus  might  a  flower 
bend  towards  the  sun,  a  willow  lean  to  the  water  that 
fed  its  roots.  Dismissing  the  unwelcome  similes  as 
absurd,  he  yet  paused  in  momentary  incertitude  whether 
to  go  on  or  to  retreat  unnoticed.  The  group  was  pic 
turesque.  A  rock-maple,  one  bough  of  which,  tipped 
with  scarlet  and  gold,  almost  touched  Evelyn's  head, 
shielded  them  from  the  vertical  sun;  Bess's  hat  lay  on 
her  lap,  and  "she  was  sticking  wild  asters  in  the  ribbon 
band.  Mr.  Francis  had  uncovered  his  head,  and  from 
the  step  below  Miss  Byrd  looked  up  steadfastly  into 
her  half-averted  face. 

"  As  goodly  of  countenance  as  a  Saxon  god  !"  thought 
the  observer. 

Goodliness  that  was  not  all  in  finely-chiselled  fea 
tures,  in  the  clear  skin  and  the  glow  of  youth  and 
health,  the  deep,  blue  eyes,  the  fair  curls  crowning  the 
noble  head,  and  the  athletic  symmetry  of  the  figure. 
The  light  of  smile  and  eye  had  a  glory  of  its  own,  the 
curve  of  lips  that  could  be  haughty  was  now  playful, — 
and — it  could  not  be  tender  ! 

Fontaine's  second  thought  and  impulse  were  of  vehe 
ment  indignation.  How  dared  this  foreign  fop,  this 
courtly  coxcomb,  the  suitor — perchance  the  betrothed 
of  that  other  girl  awaiting  the  recreant  at  the  top  of 
the  hill — thus  stare  and  smile  at  one  he  had  known 
scarce  ten  minutes?  Well  might  a  modest  maiden 
shrink  beneath  his  bold  regards  ! 

He  strode  forward  resolutely  to  protect  her  from 
further  insolence. 


94  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Lady  Bess  was  the  first  to  hear  his  step  upon  the 
stones. 

"  Misser  Fonten  !"  she  shouted,  clapping  her  hands, 
"  'Ook  at  mine  p'itty  hat !"  holding  aloft  the  triumph 
of  sylvan  millinery.  The  instinct  of  self-indulgence 
potent  in  the  shrewd  angel  moved  her  to  add,  her 
mouth  drooping  plaintively, — "  Yady  Bess  mighty 
tired  !  P'ease  tarry  me  up  'ee  hill  I" 

She  relieved  the  embarrassment  of  a  surprise  that 
was  evidently  an  interruption. 

"  I  came  back  for  her,"  said  Mr.  Fontaine,  with 
grave  directness.  "  Mrs.  Carter  is  uneasy  lest  she  may 
hinder  you  in  mounting  the  hill." 

Mr.  Francis  interposed  himself  between  the  speaker 
and  Evelyn,  who  without  turning  was  hurriedly  gath 
ering  up  the  scattered  asters  from  the  wall.  The  back 
of  her  neck  and  the  one  small  ear  that  was  visible  were 
of  a  vivid  pink.  She  had,  then,  resented  the  stranger's 
audacity. 

He  spoke  courteously  enough,  and  his  ready  laugh 
had  in  it  nothing  of  bravado  or  bashfulness. 

"  I  offered  my  poor  services  as  porter  to  her  lady 
ship,  but  she  would  none  of  me,  even  insisting  that 
Miss  Byrd  should  lift  her  upon  the  wall.  Once  there, 
she  would  go  no  farther.  We  were  conspiring  to  dis 
lodge  her  by  strategy.  I  had  in  mind  an  ambush  of 
Indians  in  the  thicket  over  there,  but  Miss  Byrd  assures 
me  that  red  savages  are  no  longer  a  terror  to  American 
babies.  Nor  would  her  tender  heart  consent  to  a  scare 
from  bogie  or  ghost.  We  are  your  grateful  debtors, 
Mr.  Fontaine." 

He  spoke  in  fluent  French,  and  the  frankness  of  the 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  95 

laughing  eyes  and  the  indulgent  smile  that  rested  for 
an  instant  upon  the  spoiled  child,  reversed  instantly  the 
current  of  criticism.  The  explanation  was  too  plausi 
ble  not  to  be  true.  Fontaine's  responsive  laugh  was 
the  heartier  for  the  relief  from  disagreeable  suspicions. 
The  blue  and  black  eyes  met  in  mutual  good- will. 

"  Come,  Lady  Bess  !  Mamma  is  wondering  if  her 
bird  has  flown  away  !"  said  the  rector,  gayly.  "  What ! 
I  must  shoulder  you  !  Be  it  so,  then." 

He  sprang  lightly  up  the  steps,  unhindered  by  his 
burden,  leaving  the  others  to  follow  at  their  pleasure. 

"I  have  been  unjust  to  an  innocent  man,"  he  was 
schooling  himself  by  saying  when  the  precocious  infant 
spoke  out  one  of  the  many  pieces  of  her  mind. 

"  Yady  Bess  finks  she  doesn't  yike  dat  gem  pieman. 
Not  vewy  much,  I  don't  fink  !" 

"  It  is  not  kind  to  dislike  a  pleasant  gentleman  who 
has  done  nothing  to  vex  you,"  replied  her  porter,  in 
gentle  reproof. 

"  Yady  Bess  'ould  yike  him  if  he  didn'  say  '  Mine 
Eva!'  She  is  mine  Eva!  Nobody  else  s'all  call  her 
so  but  mine  own  self." 

"  He  said  nothing  like  that !"  retorted  Fontaine, 
emphatically.  "  Bess  is  only  a  foolish  little  girl  who 
does  not  understand  all  that  grown  people  may  say. 
Mamma  would  be  grieved  to  hear  her  sweet  daughter 
tell  such  a  silly  thing." 

To  his  sensible  inner  self  he  subjoined  :  "  What  a 
fallacy  is  contained  in  the  adage,  *  Children  and  fools 
speak  the  truth  !'  They  are  the  most  unsafe,  because 
the  most  ignorant  of  eaves-droppers." 


96  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  fortnight  succeeding  the  arrival  of  Mistress 
Martha  Jaqueline  at  Westover  was  monumental  for 
half  a  century  thereafter  in  the  social  annals  of  tide 
water  Virginia.  With  the  speedful  certainty  of  the 
message  of  the  crosslet  stained  by  fire  and  blood  to 
Highland  height  and  loch,  the  news  flashed  up  and  down 
the  river  that  high  carnival  would  be  held  in  the  Byrd 
mansion,  where  there  were  room  and  welcome  for  all. 
All  day  long  chariots  and  horses  were  halting  at  the 
tall  gate  surmounted  by  the  monogram  of  the  princely 
proprietor.  Lighted  windows  from  ground-floor  to 
steep  roof,  blinked  to  passing  vessels  like  fiery  eyes 
until  midnight  was  far  sped.  Strains,  jocund  and 
sweet,  from  players  upon  instruments,  and  wildly- 
plaintive  as  the  song  of  the  Lorelei,  from  daughters 
of  music  whose  fame  is  not  yet  forgotten,  mingled 
with  the  river-breeze  and  kept  the  whippoorwill 
silent. 

Madam  Byrd  had  never  been  happier  in  her  pros 
perous  life.  Mr.  Harrison's  rapid  recovery  was  a  brave 
feather  in  her  cap,  and  the  publicity  given  by  the  influx 
of  guests  to  the  talk  of  his  danger,  and  the  share  she 
had  in  his  cure,  was  a  continual  triumph.  She  was  able 
to  return  to  her  own  house  with  a  good  conscience  on 
the  fourth  day  of  the  visitors'  sojourn  there,  and  fell  in 
love  out  of  hand  (in  matronly,  virtuous  fashion)  with 
Martha  Jaqueline's  "  friend." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  97 

That  he  was  all  the  word  implies  when  it  flies  quota 
tion-marks  was  palpable,  or  assumed  by  everybody  to 
be  obvious.  Had  doubt  lurked  in  the  worldly-wise 
mind  of  the  chatelaine,  it  could  not  have  survived  a 
confidential  chat  held  in  the  still-room  a  few  days  after 
her  home-coming,  with  Martha's  chaperone. 

Miss  Lotsie  Johnson  had  brought  up  Martha  Jaque- 
line  "  by  hand,"  and  estimated  her  proprietorship  in 
that    lively  damsel,   as   compared    with    the    nominal 
mother's  vested    rights,  as  ten   to  one.     The  smaller 
number  represented  the  title  Nature  grants  to  her  who, 
willingly  or  of  necessity,  brings  an  unconsenting  infant 
into  the  world  for  the  Lotsies  to  take  care  of.     The  two 
housewives,  seated  side  by  side  at  the  long  table  in  the 
still-room,  were  flavoring  loaf-sugar  for  cake-making 
by  rubbing  the  hard  white    lumps  with  lemons   and 
fresh  peach-leaves  until  they  were  yellow  and  green, 
then  pulverizing  them  in  a  small  marble  mortar,  after 
which  the  powder  was  sifted  through  coarse  muslin. 
The   process,   insufferably  tedious    in  the  telling  to  a 
modern  cook,  was  necessary  in  the  absence  of  flavoring 
extracts  for  culinary  purposes  ;  so  common  that  nobody 
thought  of  complaining  of   it,  yet  too  delicate  to  be 
intrusted  to  menials.     Miss  Lotsie  had  charge  of  the 
lemon-flavoring;  Madam's  capable  fingers  bruised  the 
peach-leaves  against   the  granulated  surfaces  without 
abrading    her    knuckles  or    breaking  her  nails.     The 
sugar  came  to  colonial  store-rooms  in   conical  loaves 
a  foot  high,  enveloped  first  in  white,  then  in  purple 
paper,  as  thick  and  stiff  as  a  board.     To  prepare  it  for 
use,  it  was  broken  into  lumps  with  a  hammer  and  stout 
knife;  afterward  cut  into  small  cubes  with  "a  clipper," 
•&  9 


98  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

a  wrought-steel  implement  with  keen  nippers  and  a 
powerful  spring. 

The  blended  fragrance  of  lemon-peel  and  prussic 
acid  scented  the  air;  each  worker  had  a  low,  ample 
chair,  cushioned  on  seat  and  back,  and  used  a  footstool 
to  make  a  lap  commodious  enough  to  accommodate  the 
big  bowl  into  which  the  green  and  yellow  lumps  were 
dropped.  At  a  smaller  table  at  the  far  end  of  the 
room,  Caliban,  enveloped  in  a  checked  apron  from 
chin  to  instep,  was  cleaning  tankards,  pitchers,  urns, 
and  other  silver  vessels,  with  scraped  rotten-stone,  oil, 
and  vinegar.  Occasionally  his  mistress  raised  her  voice 
to  admonish  him  to  diligence  or  caution.  The  house 
was  unusually  quiet.  Martha  Jaqueline's  riding-horse 
had  been  sent  up  from  Jamestown  for  her  use  the  day 
before,  with  an  imported  English  mare  for  Mr.  Francis, 
and  a  large  equestrian  party  had  set  out  for  Shirley 
two  hours  ago.  Mrs.  Carter  had  gone  home  with  her 
children  as  soon  as  Madam  Byrd  was  fairly  settled 
again  upon  her  nest. 

"I  shall  be  easier  when  the  young  folks  are  safe 
home,"  Madame  said,  in  the  course  of  more  desultory 
talk.  "  Mr.  Francis  is,  I  suppose,  a  skilful  horseman. 
All  the  English  gentry  are.  But  'tis  a  tempting  of  Provi 
dence  to  back  a  creature  with  such  a  temper.  I  was  in 
nowise  surprised  when  she  reared  so  soon  as  he  touched 
the  saddle.  And  did  you  note  that  his  thought  was  all 
for  the  terror  he  had  put  me  in?  What  Virginian 
cavalier  would  have  bowed  to  the  saddle-bow,  doffinw 

O 

his  hat  and  begging  my  pardon  for  having  affrighted 
me?  'Twas  weak,  doubtless,  to  scream  on  seeing  his 
peril,  but  my  nerves  have  scarce  recovered  the  trial  of 


7/7.9   GREAT  SELF.  99 

Ben  Harrison's  sickness.  I  could  but  compliment 
Martha  Jaqueline  on  her  composure,  and  own  that  I 
and  Evelyn  showed  like  faint  hearts  beside  her." 

"She  knows  the  mare — and  Mr.  Francis,"  said  Miss 
Lotsie,  gratingly. 

"  True  enough.  And,  judging  from  the  signs  of  the 
times,  she  is  like  to  become  better  acquainted  with  one 
of  them.  Ah,  well  !  so  wags  the  world,  and  young 
people's  fancies  will  run  where  they  will.  It  must  be 
a  comfort  to  you  and  the  young  lady's  mother  that 
Mistress  Martha's  affections  would  seem  to  be  so  well 
bestowed.  Was  Madam  Jaqueline  in  health  to  see 
Mr.  Francis  while  he  was  at  Jamestown?" 

"  Yes.     She  enjoyed  his  company." 

"As  well  she  might!  I  would  not  say  it  to  Mar 
tha's  self,  since  to  praise  her  lover  would  be  to  flatter 
her,  but  a  goodlier  man  and  a  more  charming  mine 
eyes  have  seldom  lighted  upon.  And  I  surmise  from 
his  deportment  and  acquaintances  in  dear  old  London 
town  that  he  is  of  excellent  family?" 

"  I  have  heard  as  much,"  returned  Miss  Lotsie, 
rubbing  a  lump  upon  a  fresh  lemon  with  the  regularity 
of  a  machine. 

"Madam  Jaqueline  would  make  sure  of  that,  of 
course.  The  young  couple  have  my  best  wishes  for 
their  happiness.  As  you  know,  Martha  and  I  have 
had  some  passages  at  arms  in  the  pa.st ;  but  she  is  her 
father's  daughter,  and  has  a  warm,  true  heart,  as  her 
friendship  for  Evelyn  testifies.  I  only  wish  that  Provi 
dence  had  deigned  to  send  the  twin-brother  of  this 
same  young  traveller  over  the  seas  to  fall  in  love  with 
my  step-daughter,  who  is  like  to  fill  a  spinster's  grave." 


100  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  She  does  not  lack  for  admirers." 

"Admirers,  forsooth!"  in  lofty  contempt.  "Such 
as  they  be  !  Caliban,  when  next  you  pick  peach-leaves 
for  me,  look  to  it  that  there  are  no  slugs  among  them  ! 
Faugh  !  Bring  me  hither  water  and  napkin  for  my 
fingers!"  As  the  lad  vanished,  she  continued,  more  at 
her  ease :  "  When  one  has  tasted  old  wine  of  prime 
quality,  she  will,  belike,  make  a  wry  face  at  that  which 
is  new  and  sour.  And  what  blame  to  her?  I  can  only 
hope  she  may  not  have  heard  what  my  English  letters 
brought  me, — it  is  now  over  six  mouths  since, — that  he 
has  come  into  his  grandfather's  estate  and  title.  I  took 
Mistress  Martha  aside  the  day  of  her  arrival,  when  she 
drove  over  to  Berkeley  to  inquire  after  Ben  Harrison, 
and  catechised  her  sharply  as  to  what  she  knew  of  the 
matter.  She  had  heard,  while  in  England,  of  the  old 
lord's  death,  and  even  seen  him  who  was  Charles  Mor- 
daunt  several  times  at  court  and  elsewhere.  She  mani 
fested  more  discretion  than  I  thought  was  in  her  in 
agreeing  with  me  that  it  would  be  best  not  to  name  him 
to  Evelyn.  He  is  still  unmarried,  she  says,  but  there 
was  talk  of  a  match  between  him  and  a  certain  Mistress 
Mary  Cox,  a  young  woman  of  fortune.  The  name  speaks 
nothing  for  her  lineage.  The  right  judgment  displayed 
by  Mistress  Martha  in  telling  me  thus  much  (which  I 
know  to  be  true,  inasmuch  as  my  London  letters  had 
already  advised  me  of  it)  wrought  well  towards  alter 
ing  my  opinion  of  her  whom  I  used  to  upbraid  for 
light  speech  and  romantic  fancies.  Beside  yourselves, 
there  is  nobody  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  whom  I 
dare  speak  of  this  matter.  Certain  it  is,  that  I  could 
confess  to  no  one  but  you,  Lotsie,  what  I  would  not 


HIS  GREAT  SKLF.  101 

whisper  to  the  walls  were  Colonel  Byrcl  within  fifty 
miles  of  me,  to  wit,  that  my  mind  misgives  me 
grievously,  at  times,  as  to  the  wisdom  of  his  action  in 
a  certain  affair." 

"In  refusing  to  let  his  daughter  wed  a  Papist?" 
"  Papist !  Fudge !  you've  caught  the  Huguenot 
Jaqueline  cant !  Some  of  the  best  blood  in  England  is 
Roman  Catholic,  and  the  young  gentleman, — whom  I 
never  clapped  eyes  upon, — from  what  I  can  learn,  was 
well  enough,  even  had  he  not  a  title  in  prospect.  And, 
having  fallen  in  love  with  the  American  beauty  who 
was  quite  the  fashion  at  court  that  year,  he  might, 
under  proper  management,  have  been  brought  to  view 
Protestantism  in  a  reasonable  light.  Moreover,  and 
above  all," — sinking  her  voice  mysteriously, — "were  it 
not  that  I  know  of  old  how  safe  is  the  secret  confided 
to  you,  Lotsie,  I  would  be  racked  to  death  before  I 
would  lisp  it, — there  was  somewhat  behind  this  show 
of  church ly  zeal.  Colonel  Byrcl  was  a  roistering  young 
blade  in  his  day,  and  had  his  fling  even  while  he  was  a 
widower.  Not  that  I  esteem  him  the  less  for  it.  He 
was  ever  a  man  of  honor,  and  if  he  had — which  all 
popular  young  men  have — a  woman's  secrets  to  keep, 
he  was  as  close  as  wax.  This  young  nobleman's 
father,  Mr.  Mordaunt,  was  shockingly  gay,  so  I've 
heard,  and  the  two  men  were  rivals  in  some  affair,  and 
quarrelled. 

"That  i.s  all  I  know,  except  that  the  Colonel  hated 
his  very  name.  I  chanced  to  let  it  fall  one  day  in 
Paris,  whither  we  had  gone  on  our  honeymoon,  and  I 
had  to  listen  to  some  biting  things,  I  can  assure  you, 
such  as  tied  rny  tongue  on  that  subject  forever  after. 


102  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Well,  this  poor  Morclaunt  died  years  ago, — before  I 
ever  knew  there  was  such  a  man  as  William  Evelyn 
Byrd,  or  such  a  place  as  Virginia,  for  that  matter,  and 
the  tomb  should  swallow  up  enmities  of  all  kinds. 
But  the  Byrds  have  long  memories,  and — you  know  the 
rest.  It  served  the  Colonel's  turn,  being  stout  for  his 
religion  and  church,  to  swear  that  his  daughter  should 
never  marry  with  a  Catholic ;  and  he  got  no  small 
credit  with  some  for  his  behavior.  Here  'tis  never 
spoken  of,  and  I  shall  wish,  when  I've  said  my  prayers 
to-night,  that  my  tongue  had  been  blistered  before  I 
wagged  it  over  all  this  story;  but  you  do  wheedle 
things  out  of  one." 

"  Perhaps  Colonel  Byrd  would  change  his  mind  if  he 
knew  Mr.  Charles  Mordauut  had  come  to  the  title." 

"  If  he  knew  !  I'll  wager  my  best  diamond  bracelet 
against  that  lemon  in  your  hand  that  he  knows  all  about 
it.  what  with  the  piles  of  letters  every  mail  brings 
him,  and  his  correspondence  with  the  nobility,  and  all 
that.  He  must  have  had  tidings  of  the  old  Earl's 
decease  soon  after  it  happened,  but  never  a  word  has  he 
let  slip  to  me  of  it.  As  to  changing  his  mind,  a  title 
or  two  more  or  less  would  not  avail  one  tittle  with  him. 
He  lived  hand-and-glove  with  dukes  and  earls  and 
viscounts  too  long  to  be  awed  by  them.  Charles  Mor 
dauut,  to  whom  he  refused  his  daughter's  hand,  would 
get  no  other  answer  were  he  to  present  himself  to-mor 
row  at  Westover  as  Fourth  Earl  of  Peterborough  and 

o 

Second  Earl  of  Monmouth.     Those  are  his  titles." 

The  mournful  intonation  was  not  to  be  mistaken.  Her 
husband's  familiarity  with  peers  might  have  bred  in  him 
republican  contempt,  or  patrician  indifference  to  rank. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  103 

Madam  Byrd,  formerly  Mistress  Maria  Taylor,  the 
great  London  heiress,  loved  a  title  with  British  loyalty. 

Engrossed  in  the  subject,  she  had  sat,  her  wrists 
crossed  and  palms  uppermost,  awaiting  Caliban's  return 
with  basin  and  napkin, — an  event  which  she  foresaw 
would  be  tardy.  Perceiving  him  now  at  her  elbow,  she 
dealt  him  a  perfunctory  cuff  for  hindering  her  task  so 
long,  washed  and  dried  her  hands,  and  took  up  a  stain 
less  lump  of  sugar  and  a  bunch  of  tender  leaves  with 
another  section  of  her  discourse.  Caliban  was,  prac 
tically,  no  drawback  to  conversation,  yet  Colonel 
Byrd's  helpmeet  bore  in  mind,  when  she  did  not  forget 
it,  that  diplomacy  takes  no  needless  risks.  She  men 
tioned  no  more  names. 

"  The  Lord  above  only  knows  how  any  young  woman 
of  quality  is  to  mate  herself  properly  hereabouts.  But 
His  will  be  done  !  My  heart  sinks  with  the  thinking 
what  a  certain  distinguished  parent  would  say  should 
he  discern  how  the  land  lies  between  a  nameless  belle 
and  a  certain  divine.  I  shall  not  open  his  eyes,  but  I 
cannot  shut  mine.  Nor,  I  dare  say,  can  you 

"  Caliban,  you  feckless  rascal  !  pick  up  the  lemon 
Mistress  Johnson  has  dropped  !  Wash  it,  dirty  fellow  ! 
Do  you  think  her  as  foul  as  yourself,  that  you  give  it 
to  her  right  from  the  floor,  and  with  your  bare  hand  ? 
One  would  think  there  was  ne'er  a  tray  in  the  house!" 

"  Yet  he  is  a  proper  gentleman,"  remarked  Miss 
Lotsie,  with  her  usual  economy  of  words. 

"  I  don't  deny  it.  And  of  gentle  blood.  But  when 
a  man  who  has  lived  in  courts,  and  has  a  great  fortune, 
has  but  one  marriageable  daughter,  and  she  a  celebrated 
beauty  at  an  age  when  most  women  in  this  country  show 


10-i  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

signs  of  fading,  he  is  not  like  to  be  content  with  a 
country  parson  for  a  son-in-law.  When  the  tug  comes, 
you  will  see  the  Huguenot  fare  no  better  than  the 
Papist." 

"  Will  not  she  make  choice  for  herself?" 

"That  will  not  she!  Time  was  when  /would  have 
'scaped  down  a  rope-ladder  from  a  turret-window  to 
run  away  with  the  man  I  loved.  She  stands  too  much 
in  awe  of  the  powers  that  be.  It  must  be  owned  she 
loves  him  too  dearly  besides.  She  will  not  let  me  so 
much  as  hint  that  he  has  a  fault — which  every  sensible, 
right-minded  wife  must  do,  now  and  then — men  being 
what  they  are." 

Miss  Lotsie's  qualifications  for  the  post  of  confidante- 
general  would  have  seemed  scant  to  a  passing  acquaint 
ance.  She  looked  grim  ;  she  was  ungainly,  and  shy  and 
taciturn  to  a  proverb.  Yet  people  of  all  grades  and 
tastes  dropped  secrets  into  her  ears  as  naturally  as  letters 
into  a  post-box.  She  might  say  little,  but  she  had  a 
genius  for  listening,  and  her  mind  was  ever  bent  upon 
promoting  the  interests  of  others  rather  than  her  own. 
The  meanest  of  mortals  was  esteemed  better  worth  the 
serving  than  herself;  so  far  as  in  her  lay,  she  effaced 
her  own  individuality  and  magnified  the  personality  of 
her  neighbor. 

Martha  Jaqueline  brought  to  her  once,  when  a  child, 
the  question  put  by  the  Jewish  lawyer. 

"You  are  all  the  time  talking  about  your  duty  to 
your  neighbors,  Aunt  Lotsie.  Who  are  they  all?" 

"  Anybody  I  can  help,  child  !" 

It  was  the  key-note  of  her  life. 

Her  dormitory  at  Westover  was  in  the  very  top  of 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  105 

the  house,  but  she  never  repaired  to  it  at  night,  how 
ever  late  the  hour,  until  she  had  seen  Evelyn  and 
Martha,  who  roomed  together,  in  bed,  and,  seated  at 
the  foot  of  their  couch,  chafing  the  feet  and  ankles  of 
her  nurseling,  had  heard  the  tale  of  the  day's  pleasures 
and  perplexities.  Martha  likened  her,  in  one  of  their 
conferences,  to  a  miser's  treasure-chest. 

"  Her  ear  is  the  hole  in  the  lid.  Her  mouth  is 
hasp  and  staple,  and  always  padlocked.  The  coffer 
must  be  full  to  bursting  by  this  time.  If  the  lid 
should  fly  off,  we  would  be  in  a  pretty  pickle — eh, 
Evelyn  ?" 

"  I'm  not  afraid  !" 

She  lay  high  upon  the  pillow,  one  arm  cast  over  her 
head ;  her  eyes  beamed  softly ;  her  cheeks  had  the 
flush  of  an  oleander  petal  ;  countenance  and  mien  were 
expressive  of  blissful  content. 

Martha  raised  herself  upon  her  elbow  to  kiss  her. 

"  Mon  ange !"  she  said,  fondly.  "How  any  one 
can  look  at  you  without  guessing  what  has  made  you  a 
young  girl  again,  and  the  loveliest  thing  out  of  Para 
dise,  passes  me!  Where  do  people  keep  their  eyes  and 
their  wits? — What  is  it,  Aunt  Lotsie?" 

To  Evelyn,  the  duenna  had  given  no  sign  of  in 
terrupting  the  other's  speech.  Martha  felt  the  sinewy, 
gentle  hand  pause  in  the  slow  passage  up  and  down 
her  foot.  It  went  on  as  Miss  Lotsie  said  : 

"  Mr.  Fontaine  has  both  !" 

Martha  laughed,  carelessly.  "N'importe!  What 
his  eyes  see,  his  wits  will  construe  into  flattering  evi 
dences  of  his  influence  over  her.  A  man  in  a  black 
coat  is  not  less  nor  more  than  a  man  !" 


10G  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Evelyn  looked  pained. 

"If  you  would  imply  that  Mr.  Fontaine  cares 
for  me  except  as  a  friend,  you  err  grievously.  You 
need  not  smile  incredulously !  He  thinks  of  me 
but  as  a  parishioner — a  mere  child — a  foolish,  weak 
girl  who  looks  to  him  for  counsel  and  guidance. 
Ah  !  he  is  good  !  so  good  that  your  suspicion  dishonors 
him." 

"  As  if  to  love  you  were  not  equal  to  a  patent  of 
nobility  to  any  man  !"  cried  Martha,  warmly.  "  As 
if  all  men  must  not  adore  you,  from  Monsieur  L'lti- 
connu  to  the  sleek,  sly,  sober,  silent  secretary  !" 

Evelyn's  gesture  of  fine  disdain  did  not  check  the 
gay  rattle. 

"I  caught  him  watching  you  this  evening  through 
a  crack  of  the  study-door,  where  he  sits  all  day,  pre 
tending  to  copy  the  Colonel's  manuscript,  like  a  cock 
chafer  nibbling  a  morsel  of  cheese.  The  wind  blew 
the  crack  wider,  and  showed  me  his  face.  You  were 
at  the  harpsichord,  singing,  and  somebody  else  was 
watching  you,  leaning  on  the  instrument.  Colin  had 
a  view  of  you  both,  and  I  saw  a  fire  light  up  his  eyes 
that  made  them  red  and  Uijlv,  and  his  crest  lowered 

O    «/  7 

and  flattened  like  a  snake's,  and  up  went  that  diabolic 
forefinger  to  consult  the  scar  on  his  chin,  and  I  thought 
of  a  wizard  in  his  cave,  and  a  toad  in  his  hole,  and  all 
manner  of  creeping,  eerie,  slimy  things.  Then  it  was 
that  I  sidled  up  to  Bayard, — as  being  his  betrothed  I 
had  a  right  to  do, — and,  the  song  over,  fastened  upon 
his  sleeve  and  walked  him  out  into  the  hall,  and  so  up 
and  down,  hanging  upon  his  arm  and  looking  lovingly 
sidewise  up  at  him,  while  I  berated  him  soundly  for 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  107 

his  imprudence,  and  told  him  to  whom  lie  had  nearly 
betrayed  himself." 

"I  saw  you!"  smiled  Evelyn.  "Would  I  could 
play  rny  part  as  well  I" 

"  You  improve  !"  Martha  conceded.  "  And  Mon- 
seigneur  is  not  bad,  except  that  his  eyes  are  now  and 
then  derelict.  Eyes  are  the  loop-holes  of  the  heart, 
and  Cupid  shows  his  face  at  them  oftener  than  is  safe  if 
he  would  not  be  recognized  and  aimed  at.  But  to  our 
secretary  !  While  we  loitered  in  the  hall,  he  feigned 
to  pore  over  his  blotted  scraps  of  dirty  paper,  although 
you  were  still  in  full  sight,  talking  to  Major  Muruford. 
And  what  does  my  squire  do  at  our  tenth  round  but 
clap  the  study-door  to  in  passing!  'This  door  is  ever 
ajar,  letting  pass  all  sorts  of  pestilent  draughts  !'  quoth 
he,  coolly.  I'll  warrant  you,  Colin  owes  him  no  good 
will!" 

"  The  poor  man  means  no  harm,"  interceded  Evelyn, 
still  smiling.  "  'Twas  cruel  to  shut  him  up  on  a  warm 
night  because  he  dared  look  across  the  hall, — doubtless 
because  the  music  disturbed  his  calculations  of  pounds, 
shillings,  and  pence.  He  keeps  the  plantation-books, 
and  I  know  not  what  other  tiresome  volumes,  and  never 
thinks  of  a  woman,  gentle  or  simple,  unless  he  stumbles 
over  her  in  the  corridors. 

"  But,  Mr.  Fontaine  !  I  cannot  suffer  you,  or  Miss 
Lotsie,  to  nurse  ridiculous  fancies  concerning  a  noble 
gentleman  whose  thoughts  are  set  upon  higher  things 
than  love  and  courtship, — especially  when  both  would 
be  vain.  I  would  not  scruple  to  confide  everything  to 
him  to-morrow,  were  I  in  a  sore  strait  for  a  friend  and 
helper.  He  would  judge  mercifully,  and  lend  me  a 


108  HIS   GREAT  SELF, 

brother's  aid.  Heaven  send  I  may  never  be  driven  to 
cast  myself  upon  his  compassion  !  but  it  would  not  fail 
me.  I  could  rest  upon  his  friendship  as  upon  my 
mother's  love." 


CHAPTER     IX. 

THE  master  of  Berkeley  was  restored  to  sound  health, 
and  his  lady-wife  summoned  the  country-side  to  rejoice 
with  her,  and  do  honor  to  Miss  Jaqueline  and  her 
English  gallant. 

It  was  now  October ;  the  evenings  were  long,  and 
cool  enough  to  justify  the  pleasure-loving  dame  in 
calling  the  rout  for  which  she  issued  invitations,  a  ball. 
For  fifty  miles  up  and  down  the  river,  and  twenty  back 
of  the  noble  stream,  little  was  talked  of  for  a  fortnight 
by  the  women  but  dancing  and  toilettes,  while  the  men 
looked  forward  with  interest  as  eager  to  the  run  of  the 
Berkeley  race-course  set  for  the  morrow  of  the  ball. 

The  important  night  was  fair,  and  glorious  with 
moonlight.  Williamsburg  magnates  of  College  and 
Court, — grave,  gallant,  and  gay, — in  powdered  wigs,  in 
uniform,  and  more  sober-hued  coats,  laced  upon  collar 
and  cuffs, — jostled  burly  planters  who  depended  upon 
wives  and  daughters  to  show  that  "  the  river"  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  elegant  mysteries  of  gala-raiment. 
From  Turkey  Island,  Brandon,  Wyanoke,  AVakefield, 
Shirley,  Curies,  Presque  Isle,  Tuckahoe,  Bermuda  Hun 
dred, — as  far  up  the  James  as  Henrico,  and  as  far  down 
as  Jamestown  and  Hog  Island,  and  from  Rosewell  and 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  109 

Werowcomoko  on  the  York, — the  current  of  revelry 
ran  in  the  direction  of  the  hospitable  homestead  set 
high  on  the  river-bank. 

Madam  Byrd,  handsome  and  imposing  in  purple 
satin,  brocaded  with  silver  thread,  a  turban  of  white 
crepe  and  silver  heightening  her  stature,  entered  the 
ball-room  upon  the  arm  of  the  English  stranger.  He 
was  conspicuous  by  his  height,  comeliness,  and  the  fact 
that,  although  richly  attired  in  the  prevailing  mode,  he 
wore  neither  wig  nor  powder.  His  blonde  curls  were 
gathered  into  a  loose  knot  at  the  back  of  his  neck  and 
tied  with  black  ribbon.  They  grew  close  to  the  rest 
of  the  head  in  natural  waves,  instead  of  being  combed 
away  from  the  forehead  and  temples,  and  strained 
smoothly  toward  the  queue  upon  the  nape  of  the  neck, — 
a  fashion  which  with  young  men  was  superseding  the 
full-bottomed  wig,  formerly  en  regie  for  all  ceremonious 
occasions,  social  or  public. 

Madam  Byrd  had,  as  we  know,  given  her  matronly 
favor  to  him  at  sit>;ht,  and  each  dav  strengthened  his 

~          /  v  O 

hold  upon  her  liking  and  admiration.  To-night,  her 
pleasure  at  being  singled  out  from  the  brilliant  crowd 
as  the  object  of  his  especial  devotion  was  imperfectly 
concealed.  Uppermost  in  her  mind  was  the  intention 
to  have  what  the  American  of  over  a  century  later 
would  call  "a  royally  good  time."  Her  husband's 
return  from  his  distant  possessions  and  surveys  had 
been  postponed  from  week  to  week,  until  the  novelty 
of  freedom  had  somewhat  abated,  but  not  the  enjoyment 
of  it.  Association  with  her  courtly  guest  and  talk  of 
her  old  home  had  revived  her  taste  for  polite  society. 
Unconsciously,  her  manner  took  on  something  of  gra- 

10 


110  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

cious  stateliness  witli  which  her  Virginia  congeners 
were  unfamiliar.  Ornate  phrases  tripped  from  her 
tongue,  and  she  surprised  herself  by  the  facility  with 
which  she  rounded  repartees  which  she  would  have 
despised  a  month  ago. 

"  I  am  a  poor  dependent  upon  your  bounty,  to-night," 
Mr.  Francis  was  saying,  as  she  suffered  him  to  with 
draw  her  from  the  surging  crowd  into  the  embrasure  of 
a  window  near  the  principal  entrance.  "  But  for  you, 
I  should  be  'remote,  unfriended,  melancholy,  slow/  in 
this  gay  throng.  You  will  allow  me  to  linger  beside 
you  for  a  little  while — will  you  not?  Recollect  that  I 
am  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  take  me  into  the 
secure  retreat  of  your  sympathy." 

"Fie  upon  you  !" cried  the  flattered  lady,  "when  all 
the  beauties  present  will  be  pulling  caps  presently  for 
the  honor  of  your  hand  in  the  dance  !  There  !  I  came 
near  doing  it  again  !  I  actually  was  on  the  point  of 
saying,  'your  lordship's  hand  !'  And  the  like  has  hap 
pened  sundry  times  before.  It  is,  maybe,  the  force  of 
old  habit,  for  'my  lord'  and  'your  lordship'  were  used 
to  be  as  pat  upon  my  tongue  as  plain  '  mister'  and  '  sir,' 
and  much  converse  with  you  provokes  me  to  recollec 
tions  and  tricks  of  the  dear  olden  times.  If  you  can 
put  up  with  the  chatter  of  an  old  gentlewoman,  when 
younger  belles  are  languishing  for  your  notice,  I  shall 
be  only  too  happy  to  tell  you  who  are  somebodies,  and 
who  next-to-nobodies, — though  Mistress  Harrison  has 
few  besides  notables  here  to-night.  East  Virginia  can 

o  O 

boast  no  braver  array  of  her  best  people  than  you  see 
now." 

"  I  can  easily  believe  it,"  said  the  gallant,  his  glance 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  Hi 

sweeping  the  room  to  return  to  his  companion's  face, 
as  having  found  nothing  to  excuse  distraction  from  his 
devoir.  "Grant  me  the  honor!"  taking  her  fan  and 
beginning  to  fan  her  with  the  same  air  of  absolute 
devotion. 

"If  you  will  engage  to  use  it  hcedfully  !  It  is  a 
holy  relic,  being  nothing  less  precious  than  the  fan  I 
bore  when  presented  to  our  late  gracious  sovereign, 
King  George  the  First  of  blessed  memory.  He  con 
descended  to  salute  me,  and  as  he  stooped  to  my  lips, 
my  fan  brushed  his  sacred  shoulder.  -Until  to-night  I 
have  never  borne  it  since.  There  are  not  many  men 
to  whose  keeping  I  would  commit  it  for  an  instant." 

Mr.  Francis  bowed,  hand  on  heart.  His  eyes  said 
that  his  sense  of  obligation  was  unspeakable. 

"  It  is  a  superb  relic,"  he  observed,  handling  it  cir 
cumspectly.  "  It  could  have  been  purchased  nowhere 
but  in  Paris." 

"  You  guess  aright.  At  my  special  request,  my  step 
daughter  likewise  sports  to-night  the  fan  she  bore  to 
the  drawing-room  of  our  present  sovereign.  She  was 
foolishly  reluctant  to  bring  it  forth  from  the  silver 
paper  in  which  she  is  used  to  keep  it  wrapped,  but  our 
dear  Mistress  Martha  added  her  petitions  to  mine.  Not 
that  the  workmanship  of  Evelyn's  fan  can  compare 
with  mine,  but  she  is  disposed  to  sentimentality, — and 
there  were  circumstances  connected  with  that  occasion 
that  she  cannot  easily  away  with." 

Mr.  Francis  turned  the  fan  to  examine  the  reverse. 
He  was,  apparently,  less  interested  in  Miss  Byrd's 
presentation  than  in  her  step-mother's.  Perceiving 
this,  the  matron  waxed  generous  : 


GREAT  SELF. 

"  Mistress  Martha  is  looking  passing  well.  That 
yellow  taffeta  and  amber  ornaments  become  her  rarely. 
My  Evelyn  looks  but  a  colorless  chit  beside  her." 

Her  companion's  eyes  followed  hers  to  where  the 
girls  stood  together,  surrounded  by  a  bevy  of  beaux. 
Evelyn's  gown  of  white  taffeta  draped  her  in  large, 
soft  folds;  it  was  belted  by  a  rope  of  pearls;  a  pearl 
collar  banded  her  beautiful  throat ;  the  one  touch  of 
color  in  her  attire  was  the  painted  fan  she  waved 
slowly  to  and  fro.  Mr.  Francis  passed  his  hand  over 
his  eyes, — a  swift,  unstudied  motion.  A  sentence  from 
an  old  book  he  had  read  aloud  to  his  mother  went 
through  his  mind  : 

"  The  Interpreter  looked  upon  her  and  said  unto 
her,  '  Fair  as  the  moon  !' '; 

Then  the  courtly  smile  returned  to  his  lip,  the  light 
ring  to  his  tone  : 

"  Laburnum  and  lily  !  Virginia  is  a  gracious  soil, 
bringing  forth  none  but  brave  men  and  beauteous 
women.  May  I  ask  the  name  of  the  young  lady  in 
blue  satin  talking  to  that  gallant  warrior?  For  war 
rior  he  looks  to  be  in  lineament  and  carriage." 

"  What  eyes  and  what  judgment !  That  is  Mistress 
Hannah  Harrison  of  "Wakefield.  Her  father,  Nathan 
iel  Harrison,  is  the  Admiral  of  James  River,  and  his 
daughters  are  prodigiously  admired  by  our  provincial 
beaux.  The  '  warrior,'  as  you  call  him,  is  Lieutenant 
Mavnard,  of  whose  prowess  you  may  have  heard  in 
far-off  England.  But  what  am  I  saying?  You  must 
have  been  in  the  nursery  when  he  headed  an  expedition 
to  Pamlico  Bay  against  the  pirate  John  Teach,  other 
wise  known  as  Blackboard.  Lieutenant  Mavnard 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  113 

boarded  his  vessel,  killed  the  monster  in  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight,  and  sailed  back  up  James  River  to  Wil- 
liamsburg,  with  Blackboard's  head  dangling  from  the 
bowsprit. 

"  This  happened  before  my  marriage,  but  I  have 
heard  the  tale  so  often  I  seem  to  have  been  in  the 
provinces  when  the  awful  scenes  were  enacted.  Thir 
teen  of  Blackboard's  men  were  hanged  at  Williams- 
burg.  His  skull  was  mounted  in  silver  as  a  drinking- 
vessel  and  presented  to  Lieutenant  Maynard  by  admiring 
friends.  I  have  oft  seen  and  handled  it;  but  so 
squeamish  am  I,  meseems  I  could  never  drink  from 
it,  though  it  were  filled  with  nectar." 

Mr.  Francis  looked  curiously  at  the  hero  of  the 
ghastly  adventure.  Beyond  his  martial  deportment 
there  was  nothing  to  indicate  his  sanguinary  trade, 
much  less  the  ferocity  with  which  it  had  been  plied. 
He  was  hard  upon  forty  years  of  age,  frank  of  face, 
jovial  in  eye  and  laugh,  and  assiduous  in  ballroom 
gallantries  to  his  pretty  companion. 

"  It  is  rumored  that  they  are  betrothed,  or  like  to 
be,"  resumed  Madam  Byrd  in  a  confidential  key.  "  I 
shall  be  glad  if  this  be  so, — very  glad, — and  thankful, 
as  his  friend  and  well- wisher." 

The  listener  was  the  impersonation  of  interrogatory 
attention,  as  she  meant  lie  should  be.  She  took  her 
fan  from  his  idle  hand,  held  it  before  her  mouth,  and 
talked  through  lips  that  hardly  moved  : 

"  The  phrase  escaped  me  unawares.  But  your  rela 
tions  to  the  Jaquelines — my  tried  friends  of  years — 
justify  the  confidence.  Lieutenant  Maynard  was  once 
a  suitor  of  Mistress  Martha.  He  is  a  man  of  stubborn 
h  10* 


HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

disposition,  and  his  persevering  pursuit  of  her  begot  in 
me  fears  I  perceive  now  were  groundless.  I  appeal  to 
you,  Mr.  Francis,  as  one  versed  in  the  more  refined 
sensibilities  of  the  female  heart,  if  it  be  natural  for  a 
tender,  delicate  woman  to  contemplate  with  complacence 
the  vision  of  a  husband  who  chopped  off  a  pirate's  head 
with  his  own  cutlass,  and  who  has  the  bleached  skull 
filled,  each  Christmas,  with  eggnog  in  which  to  drink 
the  king's  health  and  confusion  to  the  king's  enemies !" 

"Do  I  understand  that  Miss  Jaqueline  shares  your 
womanly  sensibilities  anent  the  buccaneer-butcher- 
hero?"  asked  the  auditor  with  labored  gravity.  "  Or 
had  the  gory  head  fascination  and  the  silver-lipped 
cranium  charms  for  the  girlish  imagination?" 

u  Martha  has  ever  showed  true  maidenly  reserve 
touching  the  affair.  She  is  brave-hearted,  and  not  easily 
daunted  by  the  details  of  war;  but  it  was  not  from  her 
that  I  learned  of  the  Lieutenant's  obstinate  suit,  you 
may  be  sure.  She  mentions  him  with  profound  respect 
as  a  brave  gentleman  and  her  father's  friend.  I  entreat 
you  to  forget  tiie  unwarrantable  indiscretion  that  has 
given  you  a  glimpse  of  what  you'd  better  have  heard 
from  another  tongue  than  mine." 

"  Do  not,  I  pray  you,  dear  lady,  apologize  for  that 
which  honors  me  and  invests  you  with  a  new  charm  in 
my  eyes,"  returned  the  young  man,  impressively.  "  It 
is  not  unlikely  that  I  may  erelong  beseech  you  to 
hearken  to  confidences  of  mine  own  that  will  tax  your 
patience  and  good-will.  Then  I  shall  venture  to  remind 
you  that  I  was  emboldened  to  thrust  rny  poor  matters 
upon  your  indulgence  by  the  noble  candor  you  have 
displayed  here  and  now." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  115 

"  I  do  protest  that  your  lordship  flatters  me  beyond 
ray  deserts  !"  cried  Madam,  fluttered  out  of  her  wits  by 
the  subtle  compliment  of  word  and  manner. 

Unaware  that  the  slip  of  the  tongue,  so  often  immi 
nent,  was  an  accomplished  act,  she  was  hurrying  on  with 
further  disclaimers  when  she  was  struck  by  the  ashen 
terror  in  one  face,  the  ill-concealed  astonishment  in 
another,  and  felt  that  the  broken  sentence  had  been 
overheard. 

The  crowd  was  in  general  motion,  the  dancers  en 
route  for  places  in  the  first  cotillon.  Evelyn  Byrd,  on 
her  partner's  arm,  was  so  near  her  step-mother  in  passing, 
that  the  white  silk  and  thepurple  satin  met  in  whispering 
folds.  Colin  Bass,  who  never  danced,  had  fallen  back 
to  the  outer  wall  to  make  room  for  those  who  did.  Both 
were  within  hearing  of  Madam's  seldom-subdued  speech, 
now  shrilled  by  excitement. 

Evelyn's  fan  slid  from  her  fingers,  and  was  caught  by 
Francis  before  it  touched  the  floor.  The  silver  cord- 
and-tassel  attached  to  it  was  entangled  in  her  skirt. 
Francis  dropped  on  one  knee  to  disengage  it,  and  the 
secretary  caught  a  rapid  murmuring  of  French  as  he 
restored  the  toy  to  the  owner.  So  quickly  did  all  this 
pass  that  Madam  Byrd  had  not  time  to  exclaim  upon 
her  step-daughter's  pallor  before  her  complexion  was 
normal,  even  rosier  than  usual. 

"  May  I  conduct  you  to  a  seat?"  prayed  the  English 
man,  with  proffered  arm.  "  I  am  afraid  that  I  must 
leave  you  to  look  for  Mrs.  Harrison,  who  deigned  to 
promise  me  her  hand  for  this  set.  Dare  I  hope  that 
you  will  reserve  the  next  cotillon  for  me?" 

She  entered  fully  into  his  implied  regret  that  duty  to 


116  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

his  hostess  had  prevented  him  from  asking  her  to  take 
the  floor  with  him  now,  and  dismissed  him  beamingly. 

"  I  release  you  !"  waving  him  away.  "  Do  not  linger 
one  instant  on  my  account.  Mr.  Bass  will  find  me  a 
chair  or  a  place  on  a  bench'' — turning  upon  the  secretary 
with  a  total  change  of  voice  and  expression. 

He  drew  back  to  designate  the  cushioned  window-seat 
behind  him,  and,  without  waiting  for  further  demands, 
brought  a  footstool  and  a  cushion  for  her  back,  settling 
her  luxuriously.  The  window  was  raised,  admitting 
delicious  sluices  of  night-air  fragrant  with  sweetbrier 
and  honeysuckle.  She  had  the  whole  ballroom  and 
the  hall  beyond  in  view.  Not  another  woman  there 
was  arrayed  more  richly,  or  was  a  personage  of  greater 
consequence  than  her  buxom  self.  She  carried  more 
weight  upon  her  shapely  feet  than  in  her  spinster-days, 
and  was  not  ill-pleased  to  sit  still  for  awhile  before  the 
next  set.  She  knew  herself  to  be  a  good  dancer,  and 
that  Mr.  Francis  would  have  no  cause  to  regret  the 
exchange  from  Mrs.  .Harrison,  who  was  leading  the 
frolicksome  troop  down  the  floor  in  singleness  and  glad 
ness  of  heart,  feeling  as  young  as  the  most  youthful  of 
her  guests,  simply  and  unfeignedly  happy  because  others 
were.  The  Englishman  chatted  politely  with  her  in 
the  pauses  of  the  dance,  but  his  devotion  was  less  pro 
nounced  than  when  the  older  woman  was  his  interlo 
cutor.  What  subjects  in  common  could  he  have  with 
Anne  Harrison  ?  A  worthy  creature  in  her  way,  but 
lacking  the  polish  which  only  life  in  the  old  world  could 
impart. 

Madam  Byrd,  overlooking  the  vari-colored  waves  of 
revelry,  her  ears  filled  with  the  lively  music  of  the 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  H7 

fiddlers  ordered  up  from  Williamsburg,  was  in  a  frame 
of  most  Christianly  resignation  to  the  providence  that 
had  east  her  lot  exactly  there,  and  just  then,  and  un- 
dutifnlly  reconciled  to  the  dispensation  of  her  lord's 
absence.  He  was  never  so  well-content  as  when  fording 
ice-cold  creeks  up  to  his  saddle-cloth,  or  trudging  through 
canebrakes,  with  five  chances  out  of  ten  of  a  moccasin- 
bite,  or  the  thrust  of  a  wild  boar's  tusk.  He  would 
rather,  at  this  instant,  be  lying  in  the  middle  of  an  open 
field,  a  blanket  between  him  and  the  earth,  and  his  head 
pillowed  upon  his  saddle,  exchanging  broad  jokes  with 
his  companions,  or,  while  they  snored  about  him  like  so 
many  swine,  gazing  up  at  the  stars  he  knew  so  well  by 
sight  and  name, — than  to  be  the  cynosure  of  this  bril 
liant  assembly  ;  to  warm  himself  in  beauty's  smile,  and 
presently,  to  help  make  away  with  the  supper  prepared 
by  the  famous  Berkeley  cooks.  Far  be  it  from  the 
exemplary  consort  of  the  many-sided  man  to  controvert 
destiny,  or  run  counter  to  her  spouse's  will ! 

The  pious  submissiveness  of  temper  and  desire  lasted 
throughout  the  cotillon  graced  by  her  presence  and 
action.  She  wasted  less  thought  upon  the  hireling  she 
had  left  leaning  against  the  wall  than  if  he  had  been  a 
caryatide.  She  recked  as  little  of  the  trivial  trip  of  the 
tongue  that  had  blanched  her  step-daughter's  face,  and 
drew  upon  her  the  secretary's  stare,  as  the  tourist  of  the 
pebble  his  foot  displaces  which  may  yet  set  an  avalanche 
in  motion. 

A  minuet  succeeded  the  second  cotillon.  Between 
the  two  the  young  people  had  strayed  out  upon  the 
lawn  and  porches,  and  the  room  was  the  fresher  for 
comparative  emptiness.  Sconces,  holding  branching 


118  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

candlesticks,  lined  four  sides  of  the  ballroom  ;  between 
them  swung  festoons  of  running  cedar.  Feathery 
asparagus-boughs,  speckled  with  red  berries,  filled  the 
fireplaces  and  wreathed  the  frames  of  mirrors  and  pic 
tures.  The  oaken  floor  was  waxed  and  rubbed  until 
it  shone  like  glass.  Portraits  of  Carters  and  Harrisons 
looked  down  upon  their  multiplied  descendants  and  the 
friends  of  a  later  generation.  Wall-benches  were  packed 
with  dowagers  and  matrons  who  had  given  over  danc 
ing;  elderly  men  stood  about  in  halls  and  doorways. 

Colin  Bass  had  pressed  himself  into  the  recessed 
window  deserted  by  Madam  Byrd.  Lieutenant  May- 
nard  had  sued  in  good  and  set  ballroom  phrase  for 
the  honor  of  her  hand  in  the  stately  dance,  and  in  her 
gracious  assent  there  was  no  trace  of  the  recoil  she  had 
defined  as  inseparable  from  refined  sensibilities. 

Mr.  Francis  smiled  as  the  "  buccaneer-butcher"  led 
the  willing  dame  down  the  long  apartment  to  their 
allotted  places.  Bending  nearer  his  partner's  ear,  he 
spoke  low  and  laughingly.  The  secretary's  furtive 
glance  had  not  left  the  pair  since  he  saw  that  Evelyn 
Byrd  was  to  dance  with  her  friend's  lover.  He  noted 
this  motion  as  more  familiar  than  the  comparative 
strangerhood  of  the  parties  authorized,  then,  the  an 
swering  flash  of  meeting  eyes  bespeaking  cordial 
mutual  understanding.  As  Francis  raised  his  head, 
the  light  from  neighboring  candelabra  struck  athwart 
his  face,  and  Bass  saw  what  made  his  steady  brain 
totter. 

The  opportunity  of  inspecting  the  miniature  in  the 
locket  he  had  taken  from  Lady  Bess  had  been  brief, 
but  his  habits  of  minute  observation,  and  the  tenacity 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  119 

of  memory  he  cultivated  as  part  of  his  business  capital, 
had  fixed  every  line  of  it  in  his  mind.  Upon  more 
than  one  occasion  he  had  been  puzzled  by  a  flitting 
fancy  that  he  had  seen  this  man  before ;  by  an  elusive 
resemblance  to  person  or  picture  that  was  gone  ere  he 
could  seize  it.  He  recalled,  now,  how  strong  and  per 
plexing  had  been  this  impression  one  evening  as  he 
watched  Evelyn  singing  at  the  harpsichord,  with 
Francis  hovering  near  her, — the  same  night  on  which 
the  insolent  patrician  had  slaved  his  promenade  with 
Miss  Jaqueline  to  close  the  study-door  with  a  mocking 
allusion  to  "  pestilent  draughts." 

He  knew  now  the  meaning  of  suspicions  and  the 
vague  boding  that  had  ever  attended  them.  His 
shrewd  wits  forged,  link  by  link,  a  chain  of  probabili 
ties  that  sickened  his  soul. 

The  child  had  fallen  asleep  in  Evelyn's  arms.  The 
locket  may  have  been  lent  to  her  as  a  plaything,  and 
forgotten  by  the  owner.  It  was  more  likely  that  it 
was  abstracted  by  the  thievish  little  fingers  without 
Evelyn's  knowledge.  It  had,  assuredly,  not  belonged 
to  Mrs.  Carter,  and  this  accounted  for  the  circumstance 
that  no  inquiry  succeeded  the  loss.  The  opaque  sal- 
lowness  of  the  reasoner's  skin  was  cadaverous  as  he 
admitted  the  almost  certainty  that  the  handsome  face 
he  now  scanned  was  identical  with  the  original  of  the 
picture  he  had  seen  surrounded  by  diamonds,  and  bear 
ing  the  French  legend, — and  that  Evelyn  Byrd  had 
worn  the  miniature  above  her  heart. 

Colonel  William  Evelyn  Byrd  was  puissant  in  his 
colonial  principality,  but  he  could  not  muzzle  the 
tattlers  who  had  bruited  through  the  region  the  rumor 


120  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

of  his  beautiful  daughter's  ill-omened  betrothal.  It 
was  merely  a  rumor, — a  faint  sketch  of  a  story,  and 
outline  and  detail  were  as  varied  as  the  mediums  that 
transmitted  the  romance.  The  secretary,  who  heard 
everything  and  forgot  nothing,  had  constructed  a  tale  for 
himself  of  harmonious  excerpts.  Miss  Byrd — accord 
ing  to  this — had  been  sought  in  marriage  while  in  Eng 
land,  by  a  person  of  quality  :  her  father  had  raised 
objections  to  the  union,  and  brought  her  home  out  of 
the  reach  of  danger.  All  this  was  six  years  ago.  To 
one  who  knew  Colonel  Byrd,  it  might  as  well  have 
been  sixty.  Having  once  decreed  the  dissolution  of 
the  contract — if  contract  there  were — no  arguments 
framed  by  man,  and  no  tears  wept  by  woman,  could 
stir  his  resolution. 

Yet  here  was  his  daughter's  lover — still  hers — the 
favorite  of  the  Byrd  household,  in  the  master's  absence 
and  under  an  assumed  name  making  the  most  of  the 
privileges  accorded  him  by  the  step- mother's  partiality 
for  him  above  all  other  visitors,  and  the  daughter's 
complicity  in  the  conspiracy  devised  by  Martha  Jaque- 
line  and  her  fellow-voyager  !  Divers  names  and  titles 
had  been  fitted  to  the  mysterious  suitor  for  whose  sake 
some  prophesied  that  the  fair  Evelyn  would  die  un- 
wedded, — but  "  Francis"  and  plain  "  Mr."  were  not 
among  them.  The  one  joint  in  the  evidence  which 
Colin  had  difficulty  hi  adjusting  was  Madam  Byrd's 
connivance  in  the  deception.  Her  awe  of  her  husband 
and  dread  of  angering  him  would  be  potent  dissuasives 
from  any  course  of  conduct  that  opposed  his  will,  and 
joined  to  these  was  her  notorious  impatience  with 
Evelyn's  affairs  of  the  heart.  She  probably  wished  to 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  121 

see  her  step-daughter  settled  in  life  before  her  own 
girls  came  upon  the  carpet,  but  Colin  had  detected 
too  many  tokens  of  intolerance  with  the  adoration  of 
Miss  Byrd's  numerous  admirers  to  credit  her  active 
co-operation  in  a  scheme  so  perilous  us  this.  Under 
the  show  of  deference  paid  by  Mr.  Francis  to  his 
hostess,  there  probably  lurked  the  design  of  securing 
her  as  an  ally  against  the  day  of  battle  which  was 
inevitable,  but  Madam  was  not  the  woman  to  serve 
wittingly  as  a  stepping-stone  or  blind  for  sentimental 
amours. 

Still,  his  own  ears  had  heard  her  call  him,  "Your 
Lordship!" 

It  is  within  bounds  to  say  that  never,  since  the  out 
set  of  his  ambitious  career,  had  the  rising  man  of  his 
tribe  been  more  befogged,  more  utterly  distraught, 
dubious  as  to  fact,  and  undecided  as  to  action,  than 
while  he  continued  to  play  caryatide  against  the 
wreathed  walls  of  the  drawing-room  to  which  he 
knew  he  was  admitted  upon  sufferance  as  the  humble 
protege  of  one  who  set  and  defied  laws  at  his  audacious 
pleasure. 

"  M.  Tartuffe  appears  to-night  in  a  new  part, — as  the 
Knight  of  the  Rueful  Countenance,"  remarked  Eve 
lyn's  partner,  in  the  practised  subtone  that  enables  one 
to  say  the  most  confidential  things  without  exciting 
suspicion  of  secret-service  work  in  the  minds  of 
lookers-on.  "And  sustains  it  passably  well." 

Evelyn's    soft   laughter   was    irrepressible.     It   was 

easy  to  move  her  to  merriment  this  evening,  and  a 

glance  at  the  dourness  of  a  visage  in  ludicrous  contrast 

to  the  universal  hilarity  about  him   overcame  the  im- 

F  11 


122  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

pulse  to  pity  the  lonely  man.  She  recovered  herself 
in  an  instant,  to  say,  remorsefully, — 

"Why  will  you  name  him  '  Turtuffe'  ?  He  is  no 
hypocrite,  nor  yet  especially  religious.  He  lays  no 
schemes  for  working  harm  to  others  and  profit  to  him-1 
self.  He  is  a  commonplace,  respectable,  faithful  re 
tainer  of  our  family.  But  for  him  a  token  you  wot  of 
would  have  miscarried  the  other  day,  and  you  would 
not  have  been  here  to-night.  I  am  ashamed  to  have 
laughed.  You  ought  to  repent  that  you  made  me 
laugh." 

"  I  repent  of  nothing  that  blesses  my  eyes  with  the 
music  of  lang  syne.  As  to  yonder  knight,  while  I 
must  say  of  him,  al \vays,  what  came  to  my  mind  the 
first  moment  my  eyes  beheld  him, — • 

'  Non  amo  te,  Zabidi,  nee  possum  dicere  quare  ; 
Hoc  tantum  possum  dicere,  non  amo  te,' — 

I  could  be  grateful  to  him  for  winning  that  laugh  for 
me.  You  look,  this  evening,  as  you  looked  in  the 
first  months  of  our  acquaintanceship,  as  on  the  day  of 
your  first  drawing-room,  when  you  honored  a  trembling 
adorer  by  accepting  the  fan  won  in  a  wager.  Fairer — 
if  that  could  be  !  Not  a  day  older,  nor  a  degree  more 
sedate.  Something  has  beguiled  you  out  of  partial 
shadow  into  full  sunshine, — my  lily  among  thorns!" 

She  raised  a  look  to  him  it  was  lucky  no  one  else 
saw.  Martha  Jaqueline's  simile  of  the  unguarded 
loop-holes  was  just. 

"  That  is  because  I  am  strangely  happy  !  I  cannot 
tell  you — or  myself — why.  Only  that  the  burden  and 
the  clouds  have  been  rolled  away — after  so  long  a 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  123 

time, — oh,  how  long !  They  may  return  to-morrow ; 
but  to-night" — with  pretty  defiance  of  Fate — "  I  am 
happy !  I  will  say  it !" 

"  And  hopeful— at  last  ?" 

She  suffered  the  passionate  gaze  to  read  her  soul ; 
repeated  the  words  with  a  smile  like  clear  shining  after 
rain, — 

"  And  'hopeful— at  last !" 

The  majestic  measures  of  the  minuet  permitted  the 
by-play  of  earnest  talk,  but  neither  spoke  again  until 
the  foot  of  the  room  was  reached.  The  admiring  re 
gards  of  one  and  another  were  attracted  to  them  as 
they  passed  along,  hand-in-hand,  until  all  were  gazers, 
and  a  babble  of  exclamations  underran  the  rhythmic 
beat  of  feet,  the  wail  of  the  violins.  The  high-bred 
air  and  striking  beauty  of  the  pair  would  have  distin 
guished  them  in  any  assembly,  but  to  the  dullest  im 
agination  they  seemed  to  carry  with  them  an  atmosphere 
of  their  own.  The  world  had  fallen  away  from  them  ; 
they  were  two  freed,  rejoicing  spirits,  guarded  by  grave- 
eyed  loves,  each  with  finger  on  lip  to  warn  back  tres 
passers  from  the  hallowed  ground  trodden  by  maid  and 
man. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  room  they  turned  in  the  order 
prescribed  by  the  dance,  and  stood,  still  silent,  still 
hand-in-hand,  the  same  mystic  glory  of  exaltation  in 
face  and  attitude. 

A  bustle  about  the  door  diverted  the  wondering 
attention  of  the  company.  There  had  been  arrivals 
since  the  minuet  began.  A  magnificent  figure  appeared 
at  the  entrance  of  the  drawing-room,  bowing  to  his 
companion  to  precede  him. 


124  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harrison,  who  were  not  dancing, 
hastened  to  receive  distinguished  and  belated  guests. 
An  eager  buzz  went  down  the  double  ranks  of  the 
dancers,  arousing  the  two  rapt  dreamers  to  the  very 
present  and  actual : 

"  Colonel  Byrd  and  Governor  Spotswood  !" 


CHAPTER    X. 

DECIDEDLY  Madam  Maria  Byrd's  fine  spirits  and 
glib  tongue  were  in  league  against  her  common  sense 
that  night,  and  Mr.  Francis  was  a  circumspect  confi 
dant. 

Martha  Jaqueline  would  have  shrieked  in  wicked  glee, 
Hannah  Harrison  been  lost  in  mild  astonishment,  and 
Lieutenant  Maynard  would  have  sworn  in  his  beard, 
had  they  known  the  purport  of  the  voluble  dame's 
divulgations  to  the  stranger  within  her  ornate  gates. 
The  listener,  while  he  had  a  tolerably  correct  idea  of 
the  facts  in  the  alleged  betrothal  case,  did  not  consider 
himself  called  upon  to  betray  familiarity  with  the 
"  warrior's"  antecedents,  or  that  he  had  divined  his 
identity  at  sight. 

Martha  Jaqueline  met  Lieutenant  Maynard  to-night 
for  the  first  time  in  a  year  and  more, — a  meeting  that 
quieted  whatever  gossip  connecting  their  names  had 
outlived  the  twelvemonth.  It  was  not  his  place  to  tell 
that  ever  since  her  return  he  had  been  cruising  the 
Carolina  coast  in  quest  of  smugglers  and  pirates  in 
smugglers'  clothing,  and  in  the  intervals  of  duty, 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  125 

cursing  the  luck  that  had  sent  him  out  of  the  James 
and  the  Chesapeake  when  he  most  ardently  longed  to 
be  within  hail  of  the  big,  square  homestead,  swathed  in 
ivy,  flanked  by  "orchards  fruited  deep,"  and  overlook 
ing,  as  far  as  eye  could  reach,  acres  of  low  grounds  fat 
with  alluvial  deposit.  He  was,  as  has  been  intimated, 
past  the  earlier  prime  of  manhood,  his  hair  was  griz 
zled  upon  the  temples,  and  his  close-cropped  beard 
streaked  with  like  mementos  of  years  past  and  pass 
ing.  Martha  Jaqueline,  his  junior  by  over  a  dozen 
years,  had  a  lively  sense  of  the  ridiculous  that  made 
her  the  terror  of.  stupidity  and  incompetency.  Han 
nah  Harrison  was  little  older  by  calendar-rendering, 
ten  years  the  elder  in  staid  propriety  of  demeanor. 
People  had  laughed  until  they  were  tired  of  the  jest,  at 
the  gallant  officer's  open  devotion  to  the  madcap  girl  in 
her  teens,  and  frowned  at  the  naughty  encouragement 
it  suited  her  humor  to  give  him.  Everybody  winked 
approvingly  when  he  seemed  to  come  to  his  senses, 
after  throwing  away  more  time  than  a  man  of  his  age 
could  spare,  and  transferred  his  allegiance  to  Admiral 
Harrison's  well-endowed  daughter.  Hannah  was  his 
firm  friend,  and  in  no  danger  of  taking  offence  if, 
while  dancing  with  her,  he  looked  at  and  talked  of  the 
black-eyed  girl  in  gold-colored  taffeta  selected  in  Paris 
to  match  the  amber  ornaments  he  had  given  to  her  at 
their  parting,  a  year  ago. 

Nothing  of  which  entered  into  Madam  Byrd's  com 
placent  imaginings.  Her  eyes  saw  far,  but  only  along 
the  surface  of  the  field, — a  not  uncommon  peculiarity 
in  people  who  pride  themselves  upon  penetrative  acute- 
ness,  and  are  diffuse  in  advertising  the  property.  Foam 

11* 


126  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

does  not  belong  to  deep-sea  soundings,  as  the  noted 
pirate-hunter  could  have  told  her. 

Martha  was  then,  and  ever  afterward,  grateful  for  his 
chance  proximity  when,  glancing  toward  the  door  at 
the  confused  hum  of  announcement,  she  beheld  the  last 
man  upon  earth  she  cared  to  see  at  that  moment. 
Instinctively  raising  her  fan  to  the  level  of  the  mouth 
she  felt  was  working  uncontrollably,  and  not  daring  to 
look  toward  Evelyn,  she  said  in  incoherent  haste, — 

"  Say  something,  or  do  something — quick  !  No  mat 
ter  what ! — only  make  people  look  at  you  !  Don't  look 
to  see  who  is  at  the  door !  For  heaven's  sake — 
now  !" 

Accustomed  to  quarter-deck  discipline,  and  ever 
readier  to  act  than  to  think,  the  sailor,  thus  adjured, 
hung  his  left  heel  in  Madam  Byrd's  satin  train, — in  the 
effort  to  extricate  it,  slid  hopelessly  with  the  right  foot 
upon  the  glassy  boards,  and  measured  six  feet  of  robust 
humanity  directly  across  the  dancers'  track,  with  a  con 
cussion  that  shook  the  solid  beams.  In  a  paroxysm  of 
thankfulness,  Martha  Jaqueline  sprang  forward  and 
offered  both  hands  to  assist  him  in  rising. 

"  Well  done  !  well  done!"  she  said,  in  accents  strang 
ling  between  laughter  and  crying.  "  But  can  you  do 
nothing  in  moderation  ?  Half  the  fall  would  have 
served  my  purpose  and  bruised  you  less !" 

The  music  stopped  ;  everybody  crowded  around  to 
inquire — to  sympathize — and,  when  it  was  evident  that 
no  harm  was  done,  to  join  in  the  laugh  led  by  the 
unterrified  warrior  and  Miss  Jaqueline. 

Her  face  was  glowing,  her  voice  shook  hysterically, 
as  after  quiet  was  restored  she  conducted  Mr.  Francis 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  127 

up  to  the  two  most  distinguished  men  in  His  Majesty's 
Colony  of  Virginia. 

"  Will  your  Excellency  allow  me  to  present  Mr. 
Francis,  my  particular  friend  and  Mrs.  Byrd's  guest, — 
who  is  visiting  Virginia  from  England  ? 

"  Colonel  Byrd  !  the  only  drawback  to  our  sojourn 
under  your  roof  has  been  your  absence.  Your  return 
leaves  nothing  for  us  to  ask  of  Fate." 

The  lie  was  dashingly  enunciated.     It  was  not  a  time 

O        V 

for  consultation  with  conscience.  She  might  commend 
half-way  measures  in  the  matter  of  the  Lieutenant's 
bones,  but  nothing  stopped  or  stayed  her  when  a  leap 
was  to  be  taken. 

The  rugged  features  of  the  Colony's  greatest  Governor 
relaxed  ;  the  deep-set  eyes  twinkled  at  sight  of  the  dark, 
arch  visage  upraised  to  him  with  the  confiding  fearless 
ness  of  a  petted  child  who  expects  indulgent  notice. 
He  bestowed  a  cordial  handshake  upon  her  "  friend," 
spoke  a  few  words  of  welcome  to  Virginia,  and  laid  his 
brawny  hand  lightly  upon  the  girl's  smooth  brown  arm. 

"  My  dear  young  lady  !  if  I  were  not  fearful  of 
arousing  the  envy  of  every  other  man  present,  I  would 
claim  a  salute  from  your  lips  in  token  of  the  friendship  I 
bore  your  father,  whose  face  I  see  repeated  in  your  own." 

"Is  it  quite  fair  in  your  Excellency  to  let  the  dread 
of  angering  a  few  dozen  men" — disdainfully  emphatic — 
"outweigh  the  honor  such  recognition  would  confer 
upon  me?"  retorted  the  witch,  with  a  tempting  pout  of 
the  ripe  mouth. 

The  soldier-ruler,  the  Tubal  Cain  of  Virginia,  the 
lately-appointed  Postmaster-General  of  the  American 
Colonies — stooped  his  grand  head  and  kissed  the  fair 


128  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

pleader  in  heartiness  of  good-will  that  called  forth  a 
chorus  of  applause. 

"  What  can  the  man  do  that  cometh  after  the  king?" 
said  the  rich,  sonorous  voice  of  the  Master  of  West- 
over. 

He  bo\ved  so  low  in  pressing  Martha's  hand  to  his 
lips  that  the  reverence  was  almost  a  genuflexion.  "  I 
beg  you  to  believe,  sir," — to  Mr.  Francis, — "  that,  if 
the  Englishman  and  stranger  needed  other  commenda 
tion  to  my  regard  than  these  circumstances,  he  has  it  in 
the  friendship  of  this  fair  lady." 

The  two  men  looked  squarely  into  one  another's  eyes 
during  the  little  speech,  and  while  the  stranger  replied  : 

"  I  am  proud  to  owe  to  her  the  consideration  with 
which  you  distinguish  me!" 

They  took  the  time  and  pains  to  say  such  things  in 
that  All-So-Long- Ago,  and  would  have  reckoned  as 
boorishly  curt  the  address  that  disdained  gracious  cere 
mony.  For  all  that,  blood  and  passion  were  no  gentler 
than  in  our  realistic  times.  One  heart,  at  least,  quailed 
at  a  certain  settling  of  the  urbane  muscles  about  the 
mouth,  as  Evelyn  saw  her  father  bestow  a  more  search 
ing  look  upon  the  face  of  his  new  acquaintance,  as  if 
something  in  voice  or  feature  impressed  him — and  not 
agreeably. 

By  tacit  consent,  Mr.  Francis  came  near  her  no  more 
that  evening,  and  supplied  the  gossips  with  no  more 
spice  by  apparent  wavering  from  his  fealty  to  his  re 
puted  betrothed.  He  was  Martha  Jaqueline's  shadow, 
sparing  never  a  look  in  the  direction  of  the  lily  others 
thought  sweet  and  fair.  The  one  other  woman  singled 
out  for  his  particular  attention  was  the  hostess  whose 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  129 

partner  lie  was  in  the  Virginia  reel  that  wound  up  the 
festivities. 

"  Come  to  us  to-morrow  I"  she  said,  ifnder  a  conven 
tional  smile.  "  The  risk  is  too  great  to  be  taken  need 
lessly/' — continuing,  after  he  had  "  turned"  her  in  the 
figure, — "  my  heart  failed  me  for  fear  when  I  saw  him. 
His  last  letter  home  said  he  would  be  away  a  fortnight 
longer." 

"Since  it  must  come,  let  it  come !"  Francis  uttered 
with  lips  whose  curves  told  no  more  than  hers.  "  The 
masquerade  is  'an  excellent  piece  of  work,  Madam 
Lady  ! — would  it  were  done  !'  " 

"  Yet  you  come  of  a  race  of  diplomatists  !" 

"  Aye !"  They  were  at  the  top  of  the  set,  and  no 
other  two  were,  to  all  appearance,  chatting  more  lightly. 
"Since  my  ancestor,  Henry  Mordaunt,  was  proxy  for 
his  liege,  King  James  the  Second,  then  Duke  of  York, 
and  brought  home  to  England  the  beauteous  Mary  of 

O  O  tf 

Modena,  who  afterward  followed  his  broken  fortunes 
into  exile.  But  the  part  suits  me  ill.  I  favor  finesse 
less  than  fair  fight.  I  am  sorely  tempted  to  risk  all 
upon  one  bold  throw." 

"You  would  lose  all!" 

"Not  if  I  have  read  aright  twin-stars  that  were 
never  brighter  than  to-night !" 

"  Sweet  stars  !"  Mrs.  Harrison's  own  eyes  glistened. 
"I  marked  them — and  so  did  many  who  read  their 
meaning  less  truly.  But" — returning  to  the  charge — 
"come  to  us  on  the  morrow  !  Martha  will,  I  am  posi 
tive,  agree  with  me.  The  carriage  will  call  for  you  at 
noon." 

"You  could  propose  nothing,  in  the  circumstances, 


130  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

that  would  better  suit  my  humor.  It  is  hardly  honor 
able  to  play  sapper  and  miner  to  the  house  in  which  I  eat 
bread  and  salt!  But  Colonel  Byrd  has  already,  in  my 
hearing,  invited  Mr.  Harrison  and  sundry  other  gentle 
men  to  meet  Governor  Spotswood  and  my  humble  self 
at  his  table  to-morrow,  and  I  fear  that  I  could  hardly 
refuse  to  remain  until  evening  without  seeming  uncivil. 
After  dinner,  I  shall  be  gratefully  at  your  service,  and 
Mistress  Martha's.  When  I  have  withdrawn  to  longer 
range  I  shall  conduct  the  siege  vigorously.  Within 
two  days  I  drop  mask  and  domino,  and  claim  mine 
own — in  other  things  as  well  as  name  and  title." 

The  great  hall-clock  struck  twelve  as  the  Westover 
party  entered  the  arched  doorway  on  their  return, — a 
deep-throated  chime,  mellowed  and  measured  as  a 
cathedral-bell. 

"  Another  day  is  dead  !"  said  the  Master.  "  To  nest ! 
•to  nest!  my  bonny  birds  !  if  you  would  hop  and  chirp 
at  dawn  !  Here  comes  the  mother  of  the  maids  to 
drive  you  up  with  her  !"  as  Miss  Lotsie  rustled  her  stiff 
black  gown  down  the  staircase.  "  And  you,  my  lady- 
\vife, — albeit  your  roses  are  of  a  hardier  sort  than  those 
that  faded  in  the  lassies'  cheeks  an  hour  agone, — must 
get  rest,  that  you  may  shame  them  in  the  Governor's 
eyes  at  dinner.  Mistress  Martha  !  grant  the  humblest 
of  your  votaries  place  in  the  background  of  your  dreams. 
Evelyn,  child  !  it  is  well  I  came  home  to  save  you  from 
the  consequences  of  too  much  junketing.  And  so,  good 
night,  and  GOD  be  with  us  all !" 

He  said  it  airily,  giving  none  opportunity  for  dissent 
or  other  reply  ;  with  hat  under  his  arm,  handed  Madam 
Byrd  up  the  first  flight;  kissed  his  daughter's  cheek 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  131 

and  Martha's  hand,  and  ran  lightly  down  to  the  group 
of  men  left  standing  below. 

A  pull  upon  the  bell-rope  brought  a  sleepy  footman 
from  the  dining-room,  and  Caliban,  agile  as  a  cat,  and 
wide-awake  as  a  night-hawk,  from  the  direction  of  the 
kitchen. 

"  Lights  in  the  drawing-room  !"  ordered  the  Master. 

o  o 

"Decanters,  glasses,  and  pipes!" 

In  an  amazingly  short  time  the  gleam  of  six  wax 
candles  was  thrown  back  from  the  mantel-mirror  and 
struck  out  keener  glints  from  cut-glass  and  silver  set 
in  array  upon  the  central  table.  A  chandelier  depended 
from  the  ceiling,  and  to  this  Colonel  Byrd  pointed, 
without  speaking.  Caliban  produced  from  behind  the 
green  branches  filling  the  chimney  a  slender  wand  of 
pitch-pine,  ignited  the  tip,  and  reached  up" at  the  length 
of  his  arm,  to  kindle  the  dozen  wax  candles  overhead. 
A  wave  of  the  Master's  hand  dismissed  the  elder  ser 
vant;  Caliban  took  his  station  behind  his  owner's 
chair,  ready  to  fill  glasses,  and  light  the  capacious  bowls 
soon  filled  with  tobacco. 

Colonel  Byrd  and  his  companion,  ex-Governor  Spots- 
wood,  had  ridden  forty  miles  that  day  over  a  rough 
country,  arriving  at  Westover  half  an  hour  after  the 
chariot  had  driven  from  the  door  bearing  the  revellers 
to  Berkeley.  The  two  men  had  supped  together, 
dressed,  and  repaired  to  the  gay  scene,  to  ruffle  it  there 
with  the  bravest  for  two  hours.  It  was  significant  of 
the  social  customs  of  the  age  that  neither  servants  nor 
guests  saw  anything  strange  in  the  preparations  for 
"  making  a  night  of  it."  The  courtier-planter  was 
indefatigable  alike  in  business  and  in  pleasure,  and 


132  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

complimented  associates  by  assuming  their  physical 
forces  to  be  equal  to  his  own.  There  was  meaning  in 
the  selection  of  the  drawing-room  as  the  theatre  of 
what  could  not  be  vulgar  orgies  while  lie  presided,  and 
Mr.  Fontaine  made  one  at  the  board.  It  was  such  fes 
tivity  as  became  the  rich  toilettes  of  the  merry-makers. 
Had  they  come  in,  spurred,  booted,  and  muddy,  from 
chase  or  journey,  pipes  and  liquors  would  have  been 
served  in  study  or  library. 

Madam  had  her  whisper  to  Miss  Lotsie  in  the  hall 
above-stairs.  Her  sanguine  complexion  had  paled ; 
her  eyes  were  startled ;  her  double  chin  was  flabby. 

"  My  holiday  is  over !  And — it  may  be  only  the 
vapors,  after  so  much  routing  and  racketing — but  I 
feel  as  if  there  were  thunder  in  the  air,  and  the  lightning 
were  going  to  strike  not  far  from  me!" 

"  You  are  out  of  sorts,  now  !  To-morrow  you'll  feel 
better !"  grated  the  friend  of  her  neighbor. 

Then  she  shut  herself  into  the  room  where  Evelyn 
had  sunk  upon  the  floor,  her  silken  robes  crushed  about 
her,  her  head  in  Martha  Jaqueline's  lap. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

"  PRAY  be  seated,  gentlemen  !"  entreated  the  Master 
of  the  house  of  Governor  Spotswood,  Mr.  Fontaine, 
Lieutenant  Maynard,  and  Mr.  Francis, — and,  affably, 
to  the  sixth  personage  present, — "  sit  down,  Bass,  and 
have  a  glass  with  us  !" 

Too  well-bred  to  patronize  one  who,  by  his  invitation, 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  133 

was  to  put  his  feet  under  the  same  table  with  himself, 
he  yet  contrived  a  subtle  difference  between  his  manner 
of  bidding  him  and  that  directed  to  the  rest, — a  differ 
ence  flattering  or  humiliating,  as  one  chose  to  construe 
it  into  favor  or  good-hurnored  toleration.  The  secre 
tary  sat  down  a  marked  man  to  the  apprehension  of 
his  companions.  It  could  not  be  surmised  from  the 
smug  stolidity  of  his  visage  whether  or  not  he  appre 
ciated  the  fact. 

"I  abhor  semi-ob.scurity  !"  continued  the  Colonel, 
drawing  a  full  breath  through  the  stem  of  his  gold- 
mounted  pipe.  "  When  once  a  man's  courting  days 
are  done,  he  considers  twilight  a  blunder.  It,  with 
the  moon  and  stars,  would  seem  to  have  been  continued 
for  the  especial  illumination  of  Fools'  Paradise.  Saving 
our  good  chaplain's  presence,  I  might,  reverently,  sug 
gest  a  doubt  if  the  game  be  worth  so  many  candles.  I 
mistrust  that  my  excellent  friend,  Colonel  Spotswood, 
will  challenge  me  on  this  head.  Less,  it  may  be,  out 
of  jealousy  for  the  honor  of  the  Creator,  who  presuma 
bly  apportions  means  to  ends,  than  for  fear  my  Lady 
Spotswood  might  hear  of  my  heresy.  You,  Maynard, 
who  must  have  a  sufficiently  lively  recollection  of  the 
railing  accusations  he  was  wont  to  bring  against  matri 
mony  in  the  days  of  his  unregenerate  bachelorhood, 
would  be  edified  and  confounded  could  you  see  what  an 
uxorious  Benedick  lie  has  become.  In  practice  and  in 
precept,  he  is  the  exemplar  to  all  husbands  within  a 
dozen  miles  of  Germanna.  But,  having  the  honor  to 
be  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  her  who  has  wrought 
the  revolution,  I  can  testify  that  seldom  has  a  man 
had  fairer  cause  for  a  change  of  creed  and  behavior." 

12 


134  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

The  Governor's  visage  was  crimson — in  the  seamed 
cheeks,  purple — with  a  queer  sort  of  shamefaced  satis 
faction,  very  comical  to  the  beholders.  Never  adroit 
at  jovial  repartee,  lie  twisted  uneasily  upon  his  seat  and 
diverted  the  conversation  at  a  right  angle. 

"Is  this  Varina  tobacco,  Byrd?"  he  asked,  in  the 
strident  tones  his  enemies — and  they  were  many — were 
used  to  hear  in  philippic  and  mandate. 

"  It  is  a  worthier  brand  than  Varina.  (By  the  way, 
we  say  '  Henrico/  now  !)  It  was  grown  and  cured, 
then  ripened  at  Westover,  and  has  a  finer  flavor  than 
ever  belonged  to  the  once  famous  Varina  tobacco. 
That  lived  upon  its  reputation  for  half  a  century,  until 
it — the  repute,  I  mean — fell  to  pieces  from  sheer 
rottenness. 

"  Varina,  you  will  understand,  Mr.  Francis,  is  a 
plantation  near  the  head  of  navigation  on  James 
River,  and  was  once  owned  by  Master  John  Rolfe, 
who  wedded  Pocahontas,  the  daughter  of  King  Pow- 
hatan.  The  whey-faced  son-in-law  was  a  thrifty  man 
and  a  cunning.  I  do  not  affirm  that  he  set  on  foot  the 
idle  tale  of  certain  valuable  secrets  connected  with  the 
culture  and  curing  of  the  bewitching  vegetable,  tobacco, 
which  had  been  confided  to  him  by  his  royal  relative. 
But  his  crops  brought  larger  prices  for  the  tradition." 

"Aspersion  of  John  Rolfe  would  not  come  with  a 
good  grace  from  you,  Colonel,"  observed  Fontaine,  to 
spare  the  stranger  the  trouble  of  reply  upon  a  subject 
of  which  he  was  probably  ignorant.  "  He  was  brave 
enough  to  put  into  successful  operation  your  favorite 
scheme  of  Christianizing  the  savages, — to  wit,  inter 
marriage  with  the  English  settlers." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  135 

Francis  laughed. 

"  We  believe  what  we  like  of  that,  Mr.  Fontaine ! 
The  fame  of  Colonel  Bynl's  nice  taste  in  such  matters 
is  too  well  established  to  be  easily  shaken." 

The  Colonel  fixed  his  brilliant  dark  eyes — so  like 
his  daughter's — upon  the  Englishman's  face,  which 
he  seemed  to  study  while  he  went  on  to  vindicate  iiis 
position.  His  manner — courteous,  yet  seldom  free 
from  the  dash  of  cynicism  or  banter  one  traces  in  his 
diary  and  correspondence — was,  or  so  Fontaine  and 
Bass  fancied,  slightly  abstracted  during  the  harangue, 
as  if  he  sought  for  some  forgotten  clue. 

"  At  the  risk  of  endangering  my  reputation  for 
fastidiousness  with  you,  Mr.  Francis,  conscience  urges 
me  to  full  confession  of  my  sentiments  upon  what  you 
and  other  Englishmen  of  fashion  may  consider  as  an 
unsavory  subject.  It  is  my  deliberate  and  unalterable 
belief  that,  had  the  first  English  settlers  in  America 
intended  either  to  civilize  or  convert  the  savages,  they 
should  have  encouraged  intermarriage  with  them  upon 
every  conceivable  occasion.  The  natives  could  by  no 
means  persuade  themselves  that  the  pale-faces  were 
heartily  their  friends  so  long  as  the  meanest  of  them 
disdained  to  take  an  Indian  maiden  to  wife.  The 
French  have  not  been  so  squeamish  in  Canada,  where, 
upon  trial,  they  find  abundance  of  attraction  in  the 
Indians.  Their  late  Grand  Monarch  thought  it  not 
below  even  the  dignity  of  a  Frenchman  to  become  one 
flesh  with  this  people,  and  therefore  ordered  that  a 
bounty  of  one  hundred  livres  be  bestowed  upon  any 
of  his  subjects,  man  or  woman,  that  would  intermarry 
with  a  native. 


136  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"By  this  piece  of  policy  we  find  the  French  interest 
much  strengthened  among  the  savages,  and  their  re 
ligion — such  as  it  is" — unable,  as  a  zealous  Church  of 
England  man,  to  withhold  the  fling — "propagated  just 
as  far  as  their  love.  And  1  heartily  hope  that  this 
well-concerted  scheme  may  not  hereafter  give  the 
French  an  advantage  over  His  Majesty's  good  subjects 
on  the  Northern  Continent  of  America." 

"  The  thought  of  amalgamation  is  odious  and  vile  to 
my  way  of  thinking!"  Maynard  struck  in,  bluntly. 
"With  Mr.  Francis,  I  decline  to  credit  your  sincerity. 
Zounds,  man  !  fancy  yourself  the  husband  of  a  copper- 
colored  wench,  shining  with  fish-oil,  and  with  no  clothes 
on  to  speak  of  except  a  blanket  strapped  about  the 
waist  by  a  thong  of  deer's  hide!  Think  of  the  filth 
and  vermin  of  her  wigwam,  as  you  and  I  have  seen  it ! 
Ugh!- 

Colonel  Byrd  put  down  his  pipe,  and  produced  his 
snuff-box  from  the  pocket  of  his  embroidered  waistcoat, 
without  change  in  the  half-smile  of  friendly  camara 
derie  he  had  worn  all  along;  tapped  the  lid,  opened  it, 
offered  it  to  Francis,  and  took  a  pinch  with  dainty 
thumb  and  finger.  On  the  lid,  laid  right  under  his 
eyes,  Francis  read,  "  In  memoriam  Johannes  Cary  & 
Jacobi  Dryden.  January  prim.  1679.'' 

"  Your  imagination  should  go  into  the  buck-basket, 
Maynard,  to  be  bleached  and  lavendered,"  resumed  the 
mellow  accents.  "/  was  not  an  early  settler  !  Had  I 
made  up  my  mind  to  other  trials  contingent  upon  my 
duty  to  King  and  New  Country,  I  would  have  brought 
rny  stomach  to  embrace  an  alliance  manifestly  so  pru 
dent  as  this.  The  Indians  would  have  had  less  reason 


HIS   G  If  EAT  SELF.  137 

to  complain  that  the  English  took  away  their  land 
if  the  white  men  had  received  it  by  way  of  portion 
with  their  daughters.  Had  such  affinities  been  con 
tracted  in  the  beginning,  how  much  bloodshed  had  been 
prevented,  and  how  populous  would  the  country  have 
been, — consequently,  how  considerable  !  Nor  would 
the  shade  of  the  skin  have  been  any  reproach  at  this 
day.  If  a  Moor  may  be  washed  white  in  three  gener- 
rations,  surely  an  Indian  might  be  blanched  in  two." 

He  passed  the  snuff-box  over  to  Maynard,  who  shook 
his  head  impatiently. 

"  Gloze  it  over  as  you  will,  the  idea  is  filthy,  immoral, 
and  unchristian  !  By  your  own  showing,  you  put  black 
amoor  and  Indian  upon  the  same  footing,  Let  them 
practise  voudoo  and  pow-wow  together  and  mingle 
bloods.  Don't  degrade  the  finer  race  to  which  you 
belong  by  such  horrible  unnaturalness  of  doctrine." 

"  It  is  rappee — ripe  and  royal !"  The  Colonel  con 
tinued  to  hold  out  the  snuff-box,  insinuatingly,  his 
smile  full  of  arch  enjoyment.  "No?  You  would  feel 
better  if  you  took  it !  To  proceed  with  our  argument. 
The  aboriginal  Indian  is  many  degrees  higher  in  the 
scale  of  being  than  the  African  negro.  Our  savages 
are  usually  tall  and  well-proportioned,  a  circumstance 
which  ought  to  make  amends  for  the  darkness  of  their 
complexions.  Add  to  this,  that  they  are  healthy  and 
strong,  with  constitutions  untainted  by  evil  practices 
and  not  enfeebled  by  luxury.  Besides,  morals  and  all 
considered,  I  cannot  think  the  Indians  were  much 
greater  heathens  than  the  first  settlers  at  Jamestown, 
who  built  a  church  that  cost  fifty  pounds,  and  a  hostelry 
that  cost  five  hundred.  Had  they  been  truly  pious  and 

12* 


138  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

wise  in  their  generation,  they  would  have  had  the  charity 
to  take  the  only  method  of  converting  the  red-skins  to 
Christianity." 

The  stalwart  ex-Governor  had  hearkened  up  to  this 
point  in  silence  that  was  plainly  not  acquiescent. 
Knowing  himself  to  be  no  match  for  his  polished  friend 
in  word-fencing,  and  looking,  perhaps,  for  aid  to  the 
clergyman  whose  reticence  began  to  look  ominous,  he 
had  held  in  as  with  bit  and  bridle  the  energetic  protest 
that  now  burst  forth  by  its  own  weight. 

"  /call  such  talk  idle  and  ribald  !  Were  it  not  that 
I  believe  you  to  be  carrying  out  a  jest  which  is  in  any 
thing  but  good  taste,  I  would  not  sit  at  the  same  table 
with  you.  The  Indian's  soul  is  as  white  as  yours  or 
mine,  and  must  be  saved  by  the  same  means.  In  our 
school  mission  at  Fort  Christanna  we  taught  them  to 
pray  out  of  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to  read  their 
Bibles  and  to  live  decent  Christian  lives.  I  am  glad  to 
be  able  to  state,  as  the  result  of  these  teachings,  that  the 
women — who  were  straight  and  well-limbed,  of  good 
shape  and  extraordinary  good  features — were  very 
modest  and  faithful  to  their  husbands,  and  mighty  shy 
of  Englishmen.  They  would  not  let  one  of  us  so  much 
as  touch  them  !" 

It  was  not  in  the  man-nature  of  that  liberal  day  to 
refrain  from  a  shout  of  laughter  at  the  climax,  espe 
cially  as  the  resentful  intonation  of  the  early  portion  of 
the  defence  of  his  proteges  swelled  out  with  odd  effect 
in  what  he  designed  as  a  "clinching"  fact. 

The  "Westover  magnate  lay  back  in  his  arm-chair, 
his  eyes  shining  with  mischievous  delight,  and  struck 
his  palms  together. 


HIS   ORE  AT  SELF.  139 

"  Bravo !  bravo  !  Or  would  you  rather  we  gave  you 
a  vote  of  sympathy?  We  need  only  lend  Maynard 
rope  enough  to  see  him  hang  himself  as  cleverly.  Even 
now  he  dare  not  wag  his  tongue  in  denial  of  my  dogma 
that,  after  all  that  can  be  said,  a  sprightly  lover  is  the 
most  prevailing  missionary  that  can  be  sent  among  the 
Indians  at  large,  or  any  other  infidels — unless  we  except, 
by  courtesy" — laughing  musically — "Governor  Spots- 
wood's  Christanna  lambkins  !" 

Mr.  Fontaine  interposed  with  characteristic  tact  and 
delicacy. 

"  Our  wise  politicians  settled  the  question  for  us  in 
Virginia,  once  and  for  all,  at  the  beginning  of  our 
settlement  here.  When  they  heard  that  Rolfe  had 
married  Pocahontas,  it  was  deliberated  in  Council 
whether  or  not  he  had  committed  high  treason  in  that 
he  had  taken  to  wife  an  Indian  princess,  and  had  not 
some  troubles  intervened  which  put  a  stop  to  the  inquiry, 
the  luckless  lover  might  have  been  hanged  for  doing 
what  other  statesmen  beside  Colonel  Byrd  reckoned  the 
most  just,  natural,  generous,  and  politic  action  that  was 
ever  done  on  this  side  of  the  water.  The  action  of  the 
Home  government  put  an  effectual  stop  to  all  inter 
marriages  of  this  sort — that  is,  between  whites  and 
Indians." 

Caliban  had  moved  out  of  the  shadow  of  the  tall 
back  of  his  master's  chair  to  replenish  Lieutenant 
Maynard's  glass,  compounding  the  beverage  with  noise 
less  dexterity,  and  gliding  back  to  his  ambush  as  Mr. 
Fontaine  paused  before  the  last  section  of  his  remark, — 
a  pause  that  pointed  his  meaning. 

"  Pass  the  tobacco,  my  boy  !"  said  the  Colonel,  kindly, 


140  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

and  as  the  light  streamed  upon  the  lad's  supple  limbs 
and  golden-russet  complexion,  he  added — "  Intermar 
riages  !  yes!  When  there  is  a  choice  of  evils,  the 
wise  man  takes  the  lesser.  We  would  not  use  a  moral 
method  to  convert  the  savage.  The  cross  of  races  is 
effected  all  the  same.  The  Puritan  fathers,  the  Bap 
tists,  and  other  New  England  dissenters,  were  of  like 
mind  with  the  first  adventurers  to  Virginia,  anent 
Indian  alliances,  false  delicacy  that  created  in  the 
natives  a  jealousy  that  the  English  were  ill-affected 
toward  them.  Many  of  the  poor  wretches  paid  for 
their  scruples  with  their  lives,  so  we  will  not  add  our 
censure  to  their  miseries.  The  Quaker  favorite  of  a 
Popish  prince — William  Penn — managed  to  carry  his 
dish  straighter.  He  purchased  lands  of  the  Indians, 
and  paid  for  them — only  a  trifle,  to  be  sure  ;  but  that 
they  paid  anything  gained  them  the  credit  of  being 
more  righteous  than  their  neighbors.  They  had,  like 
wise,  the  prudence  to  treat  them  kindly,  which  saved 
them  from  many  of  the  wars  and  massacres  wherein 
the  other  colonies  were  indiscreetly  involved.  A  people 
whose  principles  forbid  them  to  draw  the  carnal  sword 
have  no  right  to  give  provocation.  They  vaunt  some 
what  overmuch  the  harmlessness  of  their  sect,  and 
having,  like  their  founder,  no  vices  but  such  as  are 
private,  they  have  made  Pennsylvania  into  a  very  fine 
country." 

It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  discussion  that  Francis 
chanced  to  look  up  at  a  portrait  upon  the  wall  directly 
opposite  his  chair,  and  experienced  a  faint  shock,  as  of 
one  who  is  covertly  watched.  The  blaze  of  the  wax- 
lights  met  upon  the  face  and  figure  of  a  man  superb  in  the 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  141 

costume  of  Queen  Anne's  court.  His  right  hand  rested 
upon  his  hip;  on  a  table  at  his  side  glittered  a  heap  of 
medals  and  chains.  Conspicuous  among  his  personal 
adornments  was  a  medallion-miniature  of  his  royal 
mistress,  surrounded  by  brilliants,  on  the  right  breast. 
His  cravat  and  wrist-ruffles  were  of  priceless  lace;  a 
flowing  perruque  framed  a  haughty,  handsome  face. 
There  was  a  lurking,  sardonic  devil  in  the  eyes  that 
seemed,  to  the  young  man,  to  survey  him  mockingly. 

He  had  heard  the  story  of  the  picture  from  Madam 
Byrd.  The  original,  General  Daniel  Parke,  a  Virginian 
by  birth,  was  the  father  of  the  first  Mrs.  Byrd.  He 
had  served  under  Marlborough  at  Blenheim,  and  by 
his  splendid  valor  earned  the  right  to  bear  news  of 
the  victory  to  the  Queen.  The  immediate  reward  of 
Maryborough's  messenger  was  the  miniature  so  proudly 
displayed.  The  more  valuable  gift  was  the  governor 
ship  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  where,  after  four  years  of 
a  cruel  and  arrogant  administration,  he  was  killed  in 
an  uprising  of  the  people.  Madam  had,  in  Evelyn's 
absence  from  the  drawing-room,  supplied  graphic  details 
of  the  public  and  private  misdoings  of  the  girl's  mater 
nal  grandfather.  Francis  had  mentally  discounted  the 
tales  to  his  own  satisfaction,  but  the  sinister  regard  he 
felt  upon  him  now  recalled  the  most  unpleasant  of 
them.  As  a  puff  of  wandering  air  swayed  the  candle- 
flames,  he  could  have  fancied  a  sneer  upon  the  full 
lips. 

He  had  known  that  he  could  not  remain  under 
Colonel  Byrd's  roof  after  the  master's  return,  and  respect 
himself.  He  had  not  expected  discomfort  and  self- 
contempt  to  begin  so  soon,  or  that  they  would  be  en- 


142  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

gendered  by  the  steadfast  gaze  of  a  living  man  and 
intensified  by  the  furtive  scrutiny  of  a  portrait's  eyes. 
There  was  something  uncanny  in  the  chill  that  crept 
upward  to  his  heart  while  the  talk,  which  seemed  im 
personal,  proceeded,  as  if,  once  in  a  while,  the  coil  of 
an  anaconda  were  cast  about  him. 

Spotswood  was  speaking  when  he  again  lent  an  ear 
to  outward  things. 

"  No  other  colony  has  thriven  more  steadily  than 
Pennsylvania.  Had  Penn  lived  until  our  times,  he 
might  have  said  with  Jacob,  l  With  my  staff  passed  I 
over  this  Jordan,  and  I  am  now  become  five  bands!"1 

"Six!  my  dear  Governor !  six!  His  original  grant 
was  for  a  slip  of  land  lying  between  the  Jerseys  and 
Maryland,  containing  three  counties.  He  pushed  his 
interest  still  further  with  His  Pope-loving  Highness, 
and  obtained  a  fresh  grant  of  New  Castle,  Kent,  and 
Sussex,  which  still  remained  within  the  New  York 
patent,  and  had  been  luckily  left  out  of  the  grant  of 
New  Jersey.  All  were  incorporated,  and  dignified  with 
the  name  of  Pennsylvania, — a  pretty  pastoral  title  be 
fitting  the  broad-brimmed  hat  that  promised  protection 
to  shoals  of  his  peaceable  sect.  Verily,  Friend  William 
had  a  long  head  for  this  world,  if  not  for  the  next, — 
and  doubtless  he  has  had  his  reward." 

"  Don't  sneer  at  a  better  Christian  than  yourself, 
Byrd,  because  lie  belonged  to  a  sect  instead  of  to  the 
Church.  'By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.'  Penn 
and  his  followers  abide  the  divine  test." 

"  By  what  fruits  shall  we  know  them  ?"  The  Colonel 
lounged  indolently  in  his  roomy  chair,  and  with  a  silver 
tobacco-stopper  pressed  down  the  contents  of  the  pipe 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  143 

Caliban  had  filled  and  lighted.  "  By  the  public  record, 
known  and  read  of  all  men,  or  the  secret  history  of 
which  few  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  have  heard  ?" 

"  I  am  not  advised  of  such  a  chapter,"  returned  the 
Governor,  coldly. 

"  Nor  1 1"  said  Maynard,  stoutly.  "  And  when  the 
character  of  a  dead  man  is  involved,  I  dispute  the 
story  in  advance,  unless  it  be  supported  by  indubitable 
authority." 

Byrd's  laugh  and  lounge  were  undisturbed  by  the 
unflattering  tone  of  the  doughty  couple. 

"  The  tale  was  well  known  in  England,  where  I  first 
heard  it,  long  after  the  parties  most  nearly  concerned 
were  in  the  dumb  grave.  It  was  surprising  to  Penn's 
contemporaries  who  were  not  behind  the  scenes,  how  a 
Quaker  should  be  so  much  in  the  graces  of  a  Popish 
prince,  but  it  was  pretty  well  accounted  for  by  those 
versed  in  back-stair  politics.  This  ingenious  gentleman 
was  not  born  a  Quaker,  but  in  his  earlier  days  had  been 
a  man  of  pleasure  about  the  town.  He  had  a  beautiful 
form  and  very  taking  address  which  made  him  successful 
with  the  ladies,  and  purchased  for  him  the  reversionary 
right  to  a  favorite  of  the  Duke  of  Mon mouth.  She 
presented  sweet  William  with  a  claugltter  who  had 
beauty  enough  to  raise  her  to  be  a  Duchess  and  con 
tinued  to  be  a  toast  full  thirty  years. 

"  Don't  be  afraid  of  that  brandy,  Mr.  Francis !" 
seeing  him  put  his  hand  over  his  glass  as  Caliban 
would  have  filled  it.  "  It  was  made  from  peaches 
grown  on  the  plantation  in  1715,  the  year  my  daugh 
ter,  Mrs.  Chamberlayne,  was  born,  and  has  been  twice 
to  the  West  Indies  and  back.  That  your  right-hand 


144  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

neighbor  is  a  water-bibber  signifies  nothing  in  the  way 
of  example.  It  is  our  excellent  chaplain's  one  weak 
ness,  to  refuse  the  noblest  form  in  which  the  kindly 
fruits  of  the  earth  are  offered  to  sinful  man." 

"  I  am  no  water-bibber,"  rejoined  Francis,  smiling. 
"  But  British  brains  must  be  seasoned  gradually  to 
American  potations.  Suffer  me  to  commend  the 
brandy  with  no  stint  of  word,  however  grudging  you 
may  esteem  my  deeds.  I  have  tasted  nothing  so  fine 
in  any  country.  It  has  the  gleam  of  the  topaz,  the 
sweetness  of  honey,  and  the  smoothness  of  oil." 

The  bland  seignior  bowed  profoundly. 

"  Which  right  eloquent  tribute  to  a  princely  drink 
shall  go  on  record  in  the  archives  of  the  Westover 
Cellar.  Mr.  Bass  will  forget  not  one  whit  of  it  and 
transcribe  it  in  clerkly  wise  to-morrow.  Our  brace  of 
scandal-mongers  are  chafing  with  impatience  at  the 
interruption  in  our  chronicle  scandaleuse," — feigning 
to  frown  at  Spots  wood  and  Maynard.  "  Life  in  the 
provinces  begets  a  taste  for  gossip  as  all  dead  things 
fester  into  life.  I  grieve,  gentlemen,  that  the  most 
corrupt  part  of  the  story  has  already  been  told.  I 
have  but  to  add  that  the  aforesaid  amour  had  like  to 
have  brought  our  fine  gentleman  in  danger  of  a  duel, 
whereupon  he  discreetly  sheltered  himself  under  the 
peaceable  persuasion  of  Master  George  Fox.  His 
father  had  been  a  flag-officer  in  the  navy  while  the 
Duke  of  York  was  Lord  High  Admiral,  and  may  have 
recommended  the  son  to  his  favor.  I  trust  this  piece 
of  secret  history  may  wipe  from  the  minds  of  my  wor 
shipful  listeners  any  suspicions  that  our  thrifty  Penu 
was  popishly  inclined." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  145 

"If  half  you  hint  he  true,*  he  would  better  have 
been  a  clean  Papist,"  rejoined  Spotswood,  severely. 
"  A  shaven  monk  who  wrote  the  Ten  Commandments 
upon  his  bare  back  with  a  scourge  were  a  better  citi 
zen.  Not  that  I  believe  the  tale  to  be  worth  contra 
dicting.  It  is  truly  what  you  have  named  it, — a 
chronicle  of  the  back-stairs.  Thank  GOD  we  have 
none  such  in  our  newer  and  cleaner  land  !" 

"  We  have  aniono-  us  monuments  in  abundance  of 

o 

the  rule  of  this  same  papistical  influence,"  Byrd  re 
torted,  in  unmoved  calmness.  "Virginia  is  scarred 
from  head  to  heel,  behind  and  before,  by  the  knife 
forged  and  sharpened  three  thousand  miles  away. 
Witness  the  excision  of  her  goodliest  arm,  the  Mary 
land  deeded  one  hundred  years  ago  by  King  Charles 
the  First — the  Martyr,  as  we  name  him — to  his  favor 
ite  (or  the  Queen's),  George  Calvert.  It  begat  much 
speculation,  even  then,  how  it  came  about  that  a  good 
Protestant  King  should  bestow  so  bountiful  a  grant 
upon  a  zealous  Roman  Catholic.  'Tis  probable  it  was 
one  fatal  instance  among  many  others  of  His  Majesty's 
complaisance  to  the  Queen.  When  to  the  influence  of 
lovely  woman  at  home  is  joined  that  of  the  Scarlet 
Woman  at  Rome,  yon  have  a  devil  no  man — or  nation 
— can  lay." 

His  eyes,  straying  from  the  Englishman's  non-com 
mittal  face  to  the  hand  resting  upon  the  table,  saw  the 
fingers  contract  spasmodically.  The  planter  removed 

*  The  author  does  not  hold  herself  responsible  for  the  "  piece 
of  secret  history"  related  in  this  chapter.     It  is  taken — for  the 
most  part  verbatim  et  literatim — from  Colonel  Byrd's  own  MSS., 
and  is  therefore  curious,  if  not  valuable. 
G         k  13 


146  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

his  pipe  from  his  mouth  and  leaned  slightly  forward. 
His  tone  was  gravely  polite,  with  a  sub-accent  of 
apology  : 

"  I  crave  pardon  on  my  own  behalf,  as  on  that  of 
my  companions,  if  we  are  trenching  upon  debatable 
ground,  Mr.  Francis.  In  our  slip-shod  talk  over  cups 
and  pipes  we  are  losing  sight  of  the  possibility  that 
the  rough  gabble  may  displease  you.  I  have,  per 
chance,  taken  too  much  for  granted  in  supposing  that 
the  favored  guest  of  the  Huguenot  Jaquelines  must, 
perforce,  be  of  their  communion." 

Francis  looked  up  at  the  portrait  opposite.  Some 
thing  in  the  malicious  scrutiny  of  the  dark  eyes  com 
pelled  an  answering  glance.  The  anaconda  coil  was 
tight  upon  his  heart  and  lungs.  He  touched  his  dried 
lips  with  his  tongue  before  speaking,  but  his  voice  was 
firm. 

"  If  I  hesitate  to  answer  you  directly,  Colonel  Byrd, 
it  is  out  of  fear  lest  you  should  reproach  yourself  over 
much  for  what  was,  at  most,  pardonable  inadvertence. 
To  Madame  Jaqueline's  household  I  have  made  no 
secret — I  wish  to  make  none  here — of  the  truth  that 
my  faith  is  that  of  my  fathers.  Ours  is  an  old  Catho 
lic  family.  I  may  suffer  in  the  esteem  of  those  with 
whom  I  would  fain  stand  well" — a  swift  glance  and 
almost  imperceptible  inclination  of  the  head  including 
all  present — "  by  the  confession,  but  to  withhold  it 
would  be  cowardly  and  traitorous." 

Simultaneously,  Spotswood,  from  one  side,  and  Fon 
taine  from  the  other,  stretched  out  a  hand  of  cordial 
sympathy. 

The  Governor  added  to  his  vice-like  grip : 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  147 

"  That's  brave  and  right,  sir !  Show  your  colors, 
young  gentleman,  let  what  will  follow  !  This  is  a  land 
of  liberty  and  toleration.  You  are  more  welcome  to  it 
than  before  you  spoke  !" 

The  son  of  the  Huguenot  refugee  said  never  a  word, 
but  the  mute  pressure  and  expressive  eyes  left  no  need 
for  speech. 

"  Upon  my  soul !"  blurted  out  Mayriard,  "  one  would 
suppose  that  the  possibility  of  this  sort  of  thing  might 
have  come  into  some  of  our  numskulls.  For  myself, 
Mr.  Francis,  I  can  only  beg  a  thousand  pardons,  and 
congratulate  myself  upon  the  lucky  fact  that  you  are 
more  of  a  gentleman  than  I,  or  you  would  have  cut  our 
talk  in  two  an  hour  ago." 

In  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  the  humorous  side 
of  the  abject  apology  from  one  who  had  not  opened  his 
lips  upon  the  Roman  Catholic  question,  was  seen  by  no 
one  unless  it  were  the  self-possessed  host.  He  arose, 
and  bowed  regretfully  to  his  foreign  guest. 

"  'Twould  be  but  wasting  words  for  me  to  reiterate 
my  friends'  apologies  and  assurances  of  deepest  respect 
for  one  who  is  not  ashamed  to  avow  his  true  character 
and  sentiments,  whatever  may  be  the  consequences. 
'  Fiat  justitia,  ruat  GoelumT  The  sky-fall  in  this 
instance  should  overwhelm  us,  not  you,  with  con 
fusion." 

The  young  man  had  grown  very  pale. 

"  Let  it  pass,  I  implore  you  !"  he  said,  huskily.  "  I 
do  not  merit  all — or  aught — of  the  gracious  things  that 
have  been  said.  I  am  humbled  by  the  hearing  of 
them."  He  reached  out  for  a  pipe  of  tobacco.  "  If 
you  will  allow  me,  I  will  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace  with 


148  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

all  of  you,  and  rejoice  in  so  good  an  excuse  to  indulge 
myself  in  another  bowlful  of  what  Colonel  Byrd  calls 
f  the  bewitching  vegetable.'  Westover  tobacco  is  as 
seductive,  after  a  modest  sort,  as  Westover  brandy.  I 
never  guessed  until  lately" — his  voice  regaining  firm 
ness  and  lightness — "  what  we  owe  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
for  introducing  it  into  Christendom.  If  I  have  been 
rightly  informed,  it  was  he  who  first  brought  it  to 
England  ?" 

The  Colonel  lifted  his  glass  to  his  lips  in  a  gesture  of 
indescribable  grace.  Amity,  gratitude,  renewed  good- 
fellowship,  and  oblivion — all  were  pledged  in  the 
action. 

"It  is  a  privilege  to  meet  one  who  is  correctly  ad 
vised  upon  a  matter  so  interesting  to  Parent  Country 
and  Colonies.  I  have  heard  learned  Englishmen — aye  ! 
and  not  unlearned  colonists — discourse  seriously  of  the 
probability  that  Christopher  Columbus  imported  tobacco 
into  Spain.  Had  this  been,  is  it  likely  that  so  accom 
plished  a  gentleman  as  Walter  Raleigh,  and  one  who 
had  travelled  so  much  and  so  far,  should  not  have 
known  of  the  delightful  narcotic,  and  adopted  the  use 
thereof?" 

Spotswood  demurred  : 

"Yet  the  tobacco  of  Varina,  Spain,  was  of  so  high 
repute  in  1622,  that  Rolfe's  plantation  was  named 
therefor.  It  was  fancied  that  the  tobacco  raised  there 
had  somewhat  of  the  same  flavor." 

"  So  worthy  a  thing  would  have  made  good  a  claim 
upon  the  consideration  of  mankind  in  forty  years  or 
thereabouts.  I  have  looked  narrowly  into  the  question, 
and  discovered  no  cause  for  doubt  that  Sir  Walter's  first 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  149 

expedition  to  these  shores  took  back  the  first  tobacco 
that  ever  touched  European  soil.  I  have  heard  my 
father  relate  how  the  gallant  Baronet,  having  fallen 
in  love  with  his  new  treasure,  thought  he  could  do  no 
less  than  make  a  present  of  some  of  the  brightest  of  it 
to  his  royal  mistress  for  her  own  smoking. 

"The  Queen  graciously  accepted  of  it,  but  finding 
her  stomach  sicken  after  two  or  three  whiffs,  it  was 
presently  whispered  by  the  Earl  of  Leicester's  faction 
that  Sir  Walter  had  certainly  poisoned  her.  Her  Majesty 
soon  recovering  her  disorder,  obliged  the  Countess  of 
Nottingham  and  all  her  maids  to  smoke  a  whole  pipe 
out  amongst  them.  There  is  no  climate  that  produces 
everything  since  the  deluge  wrenched  the  poles  of  the 
earth  out  of  place,  nor  is  it  fit  that  it  should  be  so, 
because  it  is  the  mutual  supply  one  country  receives 
from  another  which  creates  a  mutual  traffic  and  inter 
course  among  men.  But  I  dare  affirm  that  this  same 
colony  of  Virginia  brings  forth  as  many,  as  various, 
and  as  valuable  products  as  are  to  be  found  in  any 
quarter  of  the  globe.  I  doubt  me  if  the  Land  of  Eden 
were  more  prolific  of  the  necessaries  and  the  luxuries 
of  life." 

"  Peach  brandy  standing  for  one,  and  tobacco  for  the 
other  ?"  queried  the  Englishman,  again  quite  at  his 
ease. 

The  planter  smiled  genially. 

"If  you  like.  Or  you  may  reverse  the  order.  May- 
nard  !  you  are  nodding!  Don't  perjure  yourself  by 
denying  it !  The  energy  with  which  you  prostrated 
yourself  at  Mistress  Martha's  feet  this  evening  has 
wrought  upon  your  strength, — gamesome  young  buck 
13* 


150  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

though  you  are.  And  there  are  the  races  to-morrow  ! 
We'll  finish  our  pipes  and  toss  off  our  heel-taps,  and  so 
to  bed." 

A  three-cornered  note,  with  a  few  strands  of  hair 
passed  about  it  and  caught  together  under  the  seal,  was 
stuck  in  the  frame  of  the  mirror  above  the  toilette-table 
in  the  room  occupied  by  Francis  that  night.  It  was 
without  address  or  signature,  but  the  hand  was  Martha 
Jaqueliue's.  Francis  looked  closely  at  the  hair,  detached 
it  from  the  wax,  smiled,  and  winding  the  stray  threads 
into  a  coil  upon  his  palm,  kissed  it  before  reading  the 
billet  of  a  liue-and-a-half : 

u  /  shall  go  through  the  garden  at  eight  o'clock  to 
morrow  morning  to  the  church-yard." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  Berkeley  race-course  was  laid  out  in  an  exact 
circle  upon  the  level  stretch  between  the  mansion-house 
and  the  high-road  beyond  which  lay  the  Westover 
estate. 

The  perfect  autumn  day  succeeding  the  ball  brought 
out  the  countryside  in  strength.  Chariots,  from  which 
the  horses  had  been  removed,  surrounded,  in  close  ranks, 
the  outer  sweep  of  the  course,  and  were  filled  with  gay 
parties  of  both  sexes.  The  ladies  and  guests  from  the 
two  contiguous  plantations  had  seats  among  the  judges 
on  the  grand  stand,  elevated  by  eight  or  ten  easy  steps 
from  the  ground. 

"Like — and  yet  more  unlike  unto  Jacob's  ladder!" 


lUS   GREAT  SELF.  151 

observed  Martha  Jaqueline,  watching  the  ceaseless  pas 
sage  up  and  down  of  neighborhood  beaux. 

It  was  Colonel  Byrd  who  replied  : 

"  Like — because  both  lead  to  heaven.  We  need  not 
search  long  for  the  '  unlike.'  The  angels  came  up  hither 
in  one  troop — and  remained.  The  wandering  spirits 
who  ascend  only  to  descend,  should  have  your  pity — 
not  scorn — if  only  because  they  are  wanderers  !" 

"  Oh  !"  sighed  the  girl,  gazing  up  at  him  in  genuine 
admiration.  "  Why  does  no  bachelor  understand  me 
as  readily  and  answer  me  as  fitly  as  you?  Yet  there 
are  those  stupid  enough  to  marvel  that  I  am  still  Martha 
Jaqueline !  Why  was  not  Evelyn  your  son,  instead  of 
your  daughter  ?" 

The  courtier  stooped  lower  to  her  ear. 

"In  that  event,  I  should  to-day  have  the  misery 
of  seeing  my  son  broken-hearted  and  his  rival  tri 
umphant  !" 

"  Colonel  Byrd!"  Reproachful  look  and  accent  were 
inimitable.  "Could  your  son  have  a  successful  rival? 
You  forget  that  other  things  would  be  altered  by  the 
transformation  of  my  dear  Evelyn  into  her  dearer 
brother." 

"  Well  done  !"  clapping  his  hands.  "  It  is  fortunate 
that  our  English  cavalier  has  tolerable  skill  in  wordy 
play,  or  he  might  look  forward  to  many  a  defeat  in  the 
combat-matrimonial.  He  has  told  you,  I  take  it,  of  the 
grievous  faux-pas  I  executed  last  night  and  his  mag 
nanimous  treatment  of  the  same  ?" 

"Told  me?  I  have  hardly  set  eyes  upon  him  since 
you  drove  us  poor  women  off  to  bed  last  night,  like  so 
many  hens  at  roosting-time." 


152  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"You  did  not  look  at  him  then  before  breakfast? 
Even  your  fearless  eyes  drooped  under  the  ardor  of  as 
eloquent  a  pair  of  blue  ones  as  ever  I  beheld  ?  Aha  ! 
that  pretty  air  of  bewilderment  is  admirably  feigned  ! 
You  left  out  of  account  when  you  appointed  a  meeting 
under  the  droppings  of  the  sanctuary  at  bird-matins, 
that  one  of  mv  few  virtues  is  early  rising.  The  black 

»'  *<  O 

silk  domino  befitted  a  church-yard  tryst,  but  could  not 
disguise  a  figure  and  carriage  that  have  not  their  like 
in  America — if  in  the  world.  I  was  not  near  enough 
to  be  an  eavesdropper,  but  I  saw,  with  respectful  ad 
miration,  that  you  had  taken  my  daughter  along  to  play 
dragon.  She  sat  in  the  church-porch — poor  thing! 
wrapped  in  a  blue  domino  and  despairing  meditations 
upon  the  injustice  of  Providence  in  not  sending  a  du 
plicate  lover  and  a  promenade  upon  the  other  side  of 
the  sacred  building  to  herself." 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  sincerity  of  her  concern 
as  he  began  his  raillery,  or  the  relief  she  did  not  at 
tempt  to  hide  as  he  went  on.  Her  black  eyes  sparkled 
with  appreciation  of  the  cleverness  that  had  outwitted 
hers. 

"  You  are  ubiquitous  !  You  wear  fern-seed  in  your 
shoes  !  I  shall  never  feel  safe  again  within  a  thousand 
leagues  of  you  !  Fortunately,  there  is,  in  the  present 
case,  little  to  conceal — from  you.  One  day,  and  before 
long,  I  hope,  you  will  know  all.  Be  assured  that 
nobody  else  shall  know  sooner,  or  more.  Until  then, 
and  even  more  afterward,  may  I  ask  your  indulgence 
with  whatever  may  seem  irregular  or  unjustifiable  in 
the — affaire  du  cceur?  I  could  never  do  anything 
like  other  girls,  you  know.  Promise  me  not  to  be 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  153 

so  angry  with  me  that  you  will  strike  me  out  of  your 
books." 

He  pressed  the  little  hand  offered  by  the  earnest 
pleader,  and  dropped  the  tone  of  badinage  in  which  he 
habitually  accosted  her. 

"  Your  father's  daughter  can  ask  me  nothing  in  vain, 
my  dear  young  lady !  Some  time — before  or  after  the 
promised  confession — I  would,  as  his  deputy,  question 
you  somewhat  closely  anent  this  good-looking  gallant. 
He  comes  of  a  Roman  Catholic  family,  he  tells  me. 
It  is  good — if  not  noble?" 

"  Good  and  old  !  I  will  give  you  the  pedigree  when 
I  tell  the  rest.  But  my  friend  needs  no  backing  up 
of  dead  and  decayed  ancestors  to  commend  him  to 
the  confidence  of  true  men  and  women.  I  ask  for  him 
but  a  fair  field  and  no  favor — or  d/sfavor !  May  I 
depend  upon  your  impartial  judgment?" 

A  keen  look,  sustained  by  her  without  flinching, 
prefaced  the  answer. 

"  You  may, — unless  it  be  that  your  preference  must, 
of  itself,  bias  me.  The  Queen's  seal  carries  weight." 

"  Thank  you  !  It  is  a  bargain,  then,  that  my  signet 
buys  honest  and  fair  consideration  for  the  bearer?" 

He  promised  with  cordiality  that  surprised  him  in 
the  retrospect.  The  girl's  known  openness  of  speech 
and  deed,  the  high  sense  of  honor  he  had  seen  her  ex 
hibit  times  without  number  since  her  childhood — and, 
perhaps  more  than  the  veteran  courtier  admitted  to 
himself,  her  fascination  of  glance  and  language,  her 
beauty  and  vivacity — wrought  upon  his  confidence. 
They  effected  more.  They  allayed  the  undefined  sen 
sation  of  discomfort  to  which  he  had  been  subject  at 


154  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

intervals  since  the  moment  of  his  introduction  to  the 
stranger.  The  resemblance  in  person  and  voice  that 
had  at  first  puzzled,  then  annoyed  him,  was  clearly- 
accidental  and  should  not  influence  the  behavior  of  a 
rational  man  in  association  with  an  unoffending  gentle 
man  who  was  to  wed  his  old  friend's  daughter.  He 
brushed  aside  the  cobweb  of  misgiving,  and  entered 
zestfully  into  the  business  of  the  hour. 

The  scene  was  brilliant  and  imposing.  The  space 
enclosed  by  the  track  had,  some  weeks  in  advance  of 
race-day,  been  seeded  down  with  wheat,  which,  spring 
ing  up  under  favoring  rains,  now  showed  a  carpet  of 
living  green.  The  course,  beaten  and  rolled  into  the 
smoothness  of  a  floor,  was  dotted  with  stray  riders, 
usually  youths  in  light-  or  gayly-colored  raiment,  trot 
ting  or  galloping  from  point  to  point  to  show  off  the 
speed  of  their  horses  and  their  equestrian  skill,  while 
paying  court  to  the  fair  ones  in  barouche  and  chariot. 
From  the  grand  stand  streamed  the  English  flag;  flut 
tering  pennons  were  tied  to  half-  and  quarter-mile 
stakes ;  the  solid  forest-line  closed  the  view  upon  one 
side ;  upon  the  other  rolled  and  glittered  the  river. 
Beyond  it  were  other  plantations  as  fertile  as  the  two 
divided  by  the  highway.  The  air,  bland  with  October 
mellowness,  yet  had  a  flavor  of  the  sea. 

The  first  race  was  to  be  run  by  negro  jockeys,  each 
upon  his  master's  horse.  Caliban,  in  scarlet  cap  and 
jacket,  pipe-clayed  breeches,  and  blue  cockade,  was 
conspicuous  in  the  group  gathered  at  the  starting-post. 

"A  cross  between  centaur  and  monkey  !"  declared 
Martha  Jaqueliue,  whose  spirits  were  at  flood-tide  after 
the  interlude  above  recorded.  "It  makes  my  heart 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  155 

ache  to  think  how  many  scoldings  and  cuffs  will  be 
needed  to  bring  him  down  to  work-a-day  life  after 
this." 

The  boy  was  mounted  upon  Matoax,  a  blood-bay 
mare,  and  the  finest  racer  of  the  Westover  stud.  Her 
coverings  had  been  drawn  off  so  carefully  that  not  a 
hair  of  her  burnished  coat  was  roughened  ;  her  slender 
legs,  shapely  hoofs,  small,  nervous  ears,  and  arched 
neck  bespoke  distinguished  sires  and  dams.  Her  com 
petitors  were  of  the  best  stock  in  the  Colonies.  From 
Turkey  Island,  a  Randolph  had  brought  Lightning,  a 
white  stallion  renowned  all  over  Virginia  for  speed 
and  symmetry.  Rose  well,  the  ancestral  seat  of  the 
Pages  and  the  grandest  mansion  in  the  New  World, 
contributed  a  dappled  gray, — Hebe, — backed  by  her 
owner  for  a  sum  that  made  prudent  men  raise  their 
eyebrows  even  in  that  day  and  age  of  racing  and 
gaming.  Mad  Molly,  notorious  for  having  thrown 
most  of  her  riders,  broken  the  arm  of  one,  and  kicked 
another  to  death,  was  entered  by  John  Dunbar,  a  neigh 
boring  squire.  His  son  of  the  same  name,  in  the  next 
generation,  married  a  Byrd,  and,  obeying  the  trend  of 
hereditary  tastes,  divided  his  time  so  unequally  between 
horse-racing  and  the  pulpit,  that  he  was  deposed  from 
the  ministry,  and  subsequently  fought  a  duel  over  a 
betting-book  in  sight  of  Westover  church,  at  the  altar 
of  which  he  had  once  officiated. 

From  the  Brandon  stables  came  Clover-Top,  a 
sorrel,  perfect  in  shape  and  gait,  with  mane  and  tail 
like  white  silk.  Far-off  Corotoraan,  in  Lancaster 
County,  had  sent  Ajax,  the  pride  of  King  Carter's 
heart, — black  as  midnight,  sixteen  hands  high,  with  a 


156  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

stride  phenomenal  and  traditional,  a  tail  that  brushed 
the  ground,  a  neck  clothed  with  thunder,  and  the  dis 
position  of  a  lamb.  This  prodigy  of  the  celebrated 
Corotoman  stock-raising  plantation  had  arrived  by 
easy  stages  at  Shirley,  several  days  before  the  races, 
and,  perfectly  recovered  from  the  fatigue  of  the  journey, 
was  led  past  the  stand  by  his  jockey,  a  dwarfish  negro, 
as  black  as  the  horse,  and  dressed  in  white. 

Caliban  smiled  superior  down  upon  him  from  his  seat 
upon  Matoax. 

"How  you  gwine  git  up?"  he  jeered  in  an  under 
tone.  "You  orter  fetched  er  lardder  'long  wid  you  !" 

Those  occupants  of  the  stand  who  were  observant  of 
the  episode  guessed  at  the  purport  of  the  sneer  from  the 
grin  of  one  and  the  fell  glance  of  the  other,  as  reaching 
a  long  arm  up  to  the  pommel,  the  dwarf  vaulted  into 
the  saddle  like  a  tiger-cat,  and  snarled  dumbly  at  his 
tormentor. 

"  There  isn't  a  jockey  there  who  doesn't  hate  every 
other  rider  with  all  his  mind,  soul,  and  strength,"  said 
the  Jamestown  belle  to  her  nearest  companion.  "  Should 
either  of  those  two  chance  to  win  the  race,  the  other 
should  be  locked  up,  or  there  will  be  bloodshed." 

The  person  addressed  stepped  forward  to  look  over 
the  railing,  and,  attracted  by  the  movement,  Colonel 
Byrd,  and  his  secretary — who  sat  at  a  small  table  to 
record  bets,  and  the  results  of  the  races — looked  at  him. 
The  Englishman's  remarkable  comeliness  was  developed 
to  fullest  advantage  by  his  costume,  which  was  that 
of  a  gentleman-jockey  of  his  country, — a  jerkin  and 
breeches  of  buckskin  with  high-topped  boots.  The 
simple  attire  was  made  elegant  by  an  elaborate  pattern 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  157 

embroidered  in  black  silk  upon  sleeves  and  breast.  His 
cap  was  of  black  silk,  worked  with  gold  thread,  and  a 
black  silk  scarf  crossing  the  chest  from  right  to  left  to 
be  knotted  upon  the  thigh,  and  there  kept  in  place  by 
a  gold  belt  of  chain-work,  bore  the  legend,  "  J'attends" 

As  Bass  spelled  out  the  letters,  the  pen  slipped  from 
his  fingers  to  the  floor.  The  confirmation  of  his  gravest 
suspicions  was  like  the  death-sentence  to  his  presump 
tuous  aspirations.  Martha  Jaqueline's  chatter  of  hatred 
and  probable  bloodshed  would  have  taken  on  deeper 
meaning  to  one  who  had  happened  to  espy  the  red  flame 
smouldering  in  the  deep-set  eyes.  By  an  inexplicable 
impulse,  Colonel  Byrd's  glance  passed  from  the  striking 
figure  leaning  against  the  rail  to  the  scribe,  and  before 
either  could  raise  guard,  each  saw  what  surprised  him 
with  an  intuition  of  intelligent  sympathy.  Bass  re 
covered  his  pen  and  returned  to  his  book,  revengeful 
exultation  beating  along  his  veins  in  the  premonition 
of  a  coming  crisis.  Beyond  the  startled  flash  inter 
cepted  by  the  man  who  knew  him  best — and  at  his 
worst — the  Colonel  gave  no  sign  of  emotion.  His  voice, 
as  he  stooped  again,  in  confidential  wise,  toward  Martha 
Jaqueline,  was  gay,  sympathetic,  even  caressing: 

"  The  scarf  is,  I  suppose,  a  gage  d 'amour  ? 

'  Wrought  by  nae  hands  as  ye  may  guess 
Save  those  of  fairlie  fair.' 

The  day  of  chivalry  is  not  over.  Or — is  it  the  ances 
tral  motto  ?" 

"  He  is  to  ride  my  Pixie,  you  know,"  said  Martha, 
ingenuously.  "  It  was  but  fair  that  I  should  supply 
the  colors.  Dear  Fairy  !  you  are  trampling  my  toes 
all  out  of  shape  !" 

14 


158  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

The  welcome  trespasser  was  Lady  Bess,  who  pushed 
her  way  from  her  mother's  side  to  Evelyn's  knee. 

"  Tafe  me  yup  !"  demanded  the  tyrant  of  her  thrall ; 
"so's  I  tan  see  all  the  horses!" 

As  Francis  lifted  her  to  Miss  Byrd's  lap,  she  seized 
his  scarf. 

"  Mine  Eva  did  that  !"  she  announced  in  her  piercing 
treble.  u  I  saw  her  making  it  one  day — an'  she  hided 
it.  An'  I  twied,  tause  she  'ouldn't  yet  me  have  it ! 
'Oo'll  dive  it  to  me,  'ont  'oo?"  enticingly  to  the  wearer. 

Before  the  flooding  scarlet  burned  to  the  roots  of 
Evelyn's  hair,  Martha's  laugh  pealed  out  like  a  mock 
ing-bird's  call. 

"I  never  will  tell  another  lie  as  long  as  I  live!" 
she  cried  in  counterfeited  confusion.  "  I  wanted  to  pass 
it  off  as  my  own  handiwork — every  stitch  of  it.  The 
fact  being  that  I  should  never  have  finished  it  in  time 
or  eternity — I  am  so  prodigiously  lazy — had  not  tins 
angel  of  mercy  and  diligence  come  to  my  help.  You 
don't  prize  it  the  less  now  that  you  know  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth — do  you  ?" 

For  reply,  Francis  kissed  her  hand,  and  bowed  grate 
fully  to  her  co-laborer. 

"On  the  contrary,  the  pretty  confession  enhances  the 
value  of  the  gift.  I  am  this  young  lady's  debtor,  also, 
Mrs.  Carter,  and  congratulate  her  mother  for  having 
trained  her  tongue  to  utter  the  words  of  wisdom  and 
of  truth." 

As  the  buzz  of  talk  about  them  recommenced,  he 
muttered  to  Evelyn  and  her  friend, — 

"O  for  one  hour  of  Herod!  Thank  Heaven,  this 
will  end  soon  !" 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  159 

"  Amen  !"  responded  both  girls,  fervently,  Martha 
adding;,  "  I  am  aweary  of  Pyrrhian  victories !  Even 
a  weasel  has  the  right  to  sleep  by  day  after  waking  all 
night.  Hair-breadth  escapes  are  strewing  gray  hairs 
among  my  raven  tresses.  But  for  the  last  thought  of 
exchanging  cloaks  this  morning,  not  one  of  us  three 
would  be  alive  upon  the  earth  at  this  moment." 

"  I  tant  hear 'hat  'oo  say  !"  whined  Lady  Bess,  whose 
best  efforts  to  take  in  the  rapid  murmur  were  impeded 
by  Evelyn's  dalliance  with  the  curls  hanging  about  the 
sharp  ears. 

"Cannot  you,  my  astute  cherub?  It  is  a  burning 
shame  for  anybody  to  so  much  as  think  of  anything 
you  do  not  know  !  Plark  !  there  is  the  drum-tap  !  and 
there  go  the  horses !"  cried  Martha,  forgetting  all  else. 

The  foremost  was  at  the  first  quarter-mile  stake  when 
Francis  called  over  half-a-dozen  heads  to  May  nurd, — 

"A  hundred  to  fifty  upon  Matoax!" 

The  pirate-killer  nodded,  and  the  Englishman  signed 
to  Bass  to  write  it  down. 

"  An  embroidered  scarf  against  six  pairs  of  French 
gloves !"  cried  Martha  Jaqueline,  excitedly,  as  the  bay 
mare  gained  upon  the  leader,  the  Lancaster  black. 
"Mr.  Harrison!  will  vou  back  Ai  ax  on  that  wager? 

V  ft  O 

He  is  your  father-in-law's  horse,  you  know  !" 

Maynard  moved  nearer,  raising  his  voice  above  the 

storm  of  cheers  that  marked  the  increasing  interest  of 

the  race. 

"  Two  dozen  pairs  against  your  scarf!  provided  you 

work  it  yourself!" 

The  brunette  reddened  darkly  under  the  laugh  raised 

by  the  innuendo.     A  dozen  voices  contended  for  the 


160  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

right  to  take  up  the  wager;  Bass's  stolid  face  looked  at 
the  fair  gamester  for  directions. 

"Oh,  put  them  all  down!"  she  said,  dauntlessly. 
"I  shall  not  be  obliged  to  call  in  help  to  finish  one  of 
the  scarves,  or  to  buy  new  gloves  for  ten  years  to  come  !" 

Matoax  came  in  two  lengths  ahead  of  her  gigantic 
competitor  amid  cheers  that  rent  the  sky.  As  Caliban 
looked  up,  panting  and  exultant,  cap  in  hand,  to  the 
grand  stand,  he  beheld  a  purse  dangling  from  Francis's 
forefinger;  a  gesture  bade  him  hold  up  his  cap,  and  the 
prize  fell  into  it,  a  glitter  of  gold  and  silver  showing 
between  the  meshes. 

"By  George  !"  quoth  the  ex-Governor,  "  the  rueful 
visage  of  the  beaten  negro  wins  more  upon  mv  sym 
pathy  !"  and  he  dropped  a  half-crown  into  the  skinny 
hand  upheld  at  his  signal. 

"  I,  surely,  can  afford  to  be  like-minded  !"  rejoined 
Colonel  Byrd,  tossing  a  gold  piece  to  the  discomfited 
dwarf. 

All  three  actions  were  so  quick  that  few  beyond  the 
nearest  bystanders  saw  what  passed.  Martha  Jaqueline 
noted  the  scowl  of  the  half-breed  as  he  rode  the  vic 
torious  mare  to  the  rear. 

"  The  Colonel  has  hurt  the  centaur's  feelings  or 
pride,"  she  said,  aside  to  Evelyn.  "  He  thinks  that  his 
services  are  ill-repaid  by  what  he  construes  into  public 
preference  for  his  antagonist, — and,  upon  my  word,  I 
agree  with  the  boy  !" 

"  I  will  see  to  it  that  he  comprehends  how  and  why 
the  money  was  flung  to  the  other,"  answered  Miss 
Byrd,  and  the  incident  slipped  from  both  minds, 
speedily  supplied  with  more  interesting  matter. 


HIS   GREAT  8 ELF.  \Q\ 

For  the  second  and  most  important  race  of  the  day 
was  now  to  begin.  By  the  time  the  track  was  cleared, 
six  gentlemen — a  Carter,  a  Page,  a  Randolph,  a  Harri 
son,  a  Burwell,  and  the  Englishman,  Francis — rode 
from  different  points  toward  the  grand  stand.  Three 
were  arrayed  in  huntsman's  "pink"  (scarlet  to  the  un 
initiated),  one  in  blue  with  a  profusion  of  gold  lace  and 
brass  buttons,  one  in  sober  gray.  Buckskin  of  the  finer 
quality  had  found  slight  favor  as  gentleman's  wear 
with  those  who  got  the  fashions  once  a  year  from  Eng 
land,  and  liked  something  brave  in  field  and  drawing- 
room  "  toggery,'"' — until  Francis  appeared  in  the  arena. 
The  pliable  material  allowed  every  line  of  a  faultless 
figure  to  be  seen,  yet  had  not  a  wrinkle  or  crease. 
The  black  embroidery  brought  out  the  rich  tawniness 
of  the  leather,  and  his  fair  hair  shone  golden  by  con 
trast.  After  saluting  the  grand  stand,  he  waved  his 
cap  and  bent  to  the  saddle-bow  in  palpable  homage  to 
the  beauties  collected  there.  His  blue  eyes  brimmed 
with  happy  light,  his  teeth  gleamed  in  the  smile  of 
sanguine  youth  ;  he  sat  his  curveting  steed  the  imper 
sonation  of  strength  and  health,  refined  by  a  patrician 
grace  that  made  the  sprucest  provincial  gallant  seem 
burly  of  build  and  crude  in  polish. 

"Mon  Dieu  !  qu'il  est  beau  /"  uttered  Martha  Jaque- 
line,  under  her  breath. 

She  had  cast  her  arm  about  Evelyn's  waist,  as  the 
two  leaned  over  the  rude  balustrade,  and  pressed  her 
more  closely  for  the  tumultuous  throbbing  she  felt 
under  her  hand.  She  was  hardly  prepared  for  the  im 
pulsive  movement  with  which  her  friend  plucked  a 
rose  she  wore  in  her  bodice,  and  flung  it  to  the  wait- 
l  14* 


162  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

ing  riders.  Francis  arose  in  his  stirrups  to  catch  it, 
pressed  it  boldly  to  his  lips,  with  a  look  that  turned 
Martha  cold  with  apprehension,  fastened  it  in  his  cap, 
and  backed  his  mare  into  position. 

"Pixie"  had  been  selected  by  Miss  Jaqneline  in 
England,  and  was,  she  confidently  affirmed,  the  choicest 
bit  of  horse-flesh  that  ever  crossed  the  seas.  In  color 
a  bright  chestnut,  with  reddish  reflections  where  the 
sun  played  on  her  satin  sides,  stepping  on  tiptoe  with 
dainty  hoofs  that  disdained  the  soil ;  steely  muscles 
springing  into  relief  under  the  thin  skin,  and  the  veins 
showing  red  in  the  translucent  ears  as  the  rider's  pat 
upon  her  neck  advised  her  that  the  waiting-time  was 
nearly  over, — her  extreme  beauty  and  spirited  action 
elicited  a  murmur  of  admiration  from  spectators  who 
were  not  sufficiently  versed  in  turf-lore  to  recognize 
signs  of  racing  blood  iu  the  firm  barrel,  broad  chest, 
clean  limbs,  and  perfect  joints.  So  radiant  an  appari 
tion  as  Pixie  and  her  rider  had  never  before  brightened 
a  Virginia  race-course,  and  would  have  been  notable 
upon  any. 

Silence  settled  upon  the  field  for  twenty  seconds 
preceding  the  drum-tap.  The  former  race  had  been 
clear  sailing,  the  result  depending  upon  the  speed  of 
the  horses  and  address  of  the  riders  over  a  level 
stretch  of  field.  Before  the  second  began,  four  hur 
dles  of  varying  heights  had  been  set  at  irregular  dis 
tances  in  the  track ;  bagatelles  to  the  fox-hunting 
gentry  of  the  neighborhood,  yet  imparting  an  element 
of  incertitude  to  the  run  in  the  estimation  of  timid 
beholders. 

The  six   horses  took  the  first   hurdle  comfortably, 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  163 

Pixie  coming  third,  rising  to  the  leap  like  a.  swallow, 
and  alighting  on  her  toes  in  a  skimming  flight.  The 
second  was  a  foot  higher,  and  the  third,  still  taller,  was 
but  two  hundred  yards  away.  The  foremost  rider 
drove  his  heel  into  his  horse's  side,  and  lifted  him  at 
the  first  higher  rail;  another  dealt  the  flanks  of  his  a 
stinging  lash,  but  all  were  over,  and  the  hindmost  was 
fifty  yards  beyond  the  barrier  when  the  leader  arose  to 
the  third  hurdle.  He  was  a  big  iron-gray,  with  a 
strong  strain  of  the  racer  in  him,  and  went  at  the  stiff 

O  ' 

timber  with  a  rush.  It  was  said  afterward,  although 
denied  by  his  owner,  that  he  just  grazed  a  hind  hoof  in 
clearing  the  top  rail,  and  that  the  skittish  animal  im 
mediately  behind  was  startled  by  the  click  of  the  iron 
against  a  screw  that  struck  out  a  spark.  It  was  certain 
that  the  creature  refused  the  leap,  wheeling  aside  at  so 
sharp  an  angle  that  he  crowded  himself  and  master 
broadside  against  the  hurdle.  Pixie,  still  third,  was 
upon  his  heels;  the  rider  of  the  refractory  beast  in 
stinctively  lay  flat  upon  the  neck  of  his  steed,  and  the 
chestnut,  without  lessening  her  stride,  arose  in  the  air 
in  a  mighty  bound  that  cleared  horse,  rider,  and  fence, 
landing  her,  still  a-tiptoe,  upon  the  further  side. 

A  deafening  roar  went  up  from  generous  Virginian 
hearts,  renewed  as  the  flying  mare,  now  on  her  mettle, 
sailed  over  the  fourth  hurdle,  and  made  the  finish  a 
dozen  yards  ahead  of  the  big  iron-gray,  jockeyed  by 
his  master,  Page  of  Rosewell,  the  winner  of  a  score 
of  harder  races. 


164.  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  victor  of  the  most  exciting  race  of  the  day  was 
the  hero  of  the  dinner-table.  The  only  ladies  at  the 
feast  were  Madam  Byrd,  her  step-daughter,  and  Miss 
Jaqueline,  and  at  their  gracious  request,  their  presence 
imposed  no  restraint  upon  the  natural  tendency  of  con 
versation  to  flow  into  sporting  channels.  Young  Ran 
dolph  of  Curies,  to  whom  Evelyn  was  assigned  by 
the  lady  of  the  house  when  she  herself  went  into  the 
dining-room  upon  Governor  Spotswood's  arm,  and  her 
lord  handed  in  the  sparkling  Jamestown  belle,  was, 
however  proud  of  the  distinction  that  had  fallen  in  his 
way,  extremely  and  unsenti mentally  hungry,  and  Eve 
lyn  had  abundant  scraps  of  time  in  which  to  hearken 
to  the  talk  of  others  than  her  squire. 

By  accident,  Francis  sat  directly  opposite  to  her,  and 
to  whatever  cause  others  might  ascribe  the  growing 
brilliancy  of  her  complexion  and  the  kindling  eyes 
that  seldom  met  his  directly,  he  noted  and  prized  these 
tokens  of  her  exultation  in  the  honors  paid  to  the  now 
distinguished  guest.  Compliments  upon  his  dexterity, 
his  presence  of  mind,  his  riding, — were  lavished  upon 
him;  everybody  would  take  wine  with  him;  military 
men  consulted  him  upon  army  affairs;  civic  officials 
held  grave  discourse  with  him  of  home  and  colonial 
politics, — all  presently  drifting  back  to  "  horse  talk." 
He  won  upon  the  liking  of  all,  although — perhaps, 
partly  because — he  told  no  field-stories  of  his  own  and 
hearkened  attentively  to  those  of  others,  while  affably 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  165 

ready  to  give  intelligent  and  interesting  information  of 
English  stables  and  the  English  turf. 

Madam  Byrd  made  the  signal  for  retiring  from  the 
festal  board  at  an  unusually  early  hour.  Her  husband 
— magnificent  in  powdered  curls,  scarlet  coat  and  lace 
ruffles,  every  lineament,  from  wide  brow  to  cleft  chin, 
bespeaking  blandest  hospitality — found  occasion  to 
telegraph  to  her  beneath  drooped  lids  that  made  the  fine 
eyes  almond-shaped  and  languishing  when  he  willed 
to  have  them  thus,  and  she  was  prompt  to  obey.  The 
day  had  been  stimulating,  and  the  best  liquors  of  the 
best  cellar  in  the  Old  Dominion  were  in  full  gush.  The 
smiling  host  had  seen  lips  close  abruptly  to  hold  in  a 
round  oath  or  two,  and  anecdotes,  unwisely  commenced, 
come  to  fatuous  naught,  with  a  furtive  glance  at  one  or 
all  of  the  ladies.  The  latter  would  be  more  comfort 
able  above-stairs  :  the  most  gallant  of  their  admirers 

t  O 

the  happier  for  their  absence. 

Madam  insisted  upon  bringing  both  girls  to  her 
chamber,  and  summoning  thither  Miss  Lotsie  Johnson, 
"  talked  over  the  day." 

It  was  a  tedious,  and  to  the  young  women,  a  worry 
ing  process.  Every  detail  of  the  elaborate  repast, 
concerning  which  Madam  had  endured  untold  mental 
anguish  pending  the  races  she  was  persuaded  to  attend 
by  Miss  Lotsie's  promise  to  conduct,  personally,  every 
operation ;  the  costumes  of  the  women  on  the  race- 
ground  ;  two  new  chariots  and  one  new  livery; 
the  behavior  of  her  guests,  the  praises  of  the  ban 
quet  and  of  the  hostess, — each  had  place  and  dutiful 
note,  high  station  being  awarded  to  the  lion  of  the 
occasion. 


166  IIIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  I  protest,  Martha  Jaqueline,  that,  were  I  fifteen 
years  younger,  I  would  break  a  lance  with  you  for  this 
same  English  man,  whom  I  am  continually  on  the  point 
of  calling  'my  lord.'  There's  a  certain  air  of  distinc 
tion  about  him  that  means  but  one  thing,  and  that  is 
noble  birth.  I  said  to  him  last  week  that  I'd  like  to 
have  a  peep  at  his  pedigree,  and  he  said  'twas  'as  old 
as  Adam,  and  not  unreasonably  honest/  and  that,  some 
day,  he  '  would  take  pleasure  in  going  over  the  familv- 
tree  with  me,  if  I  would  join  him  in  a  flight  through 
the  dusty  branches.'  He  has  a  mighty  pretty  way  of 
putting  things.  I  had  a  lively  argument  with  him 
before  he  would  consent  to  stay  at  Westover  until  to 
night.  He  seemed  positively  uneasy  lest  the  Harrisons 
might  take  it  amiss  that  he  does  not  go  to  them,  now 
that  Ben  is  well.  I  assured  him  that  we  rude  Vir 
ginians  were  not  sucli  sticklers  for  etiquette  as  court- 
people,  and  that  though  he  was  invited  there  first,  the 
hand  of  Providence  had,  so  to  speak,  turned  him  over 
to  us.  He  made  reply  that  though,  like  a  good  Chris 
tian,  he  had  kissed  the  rod  and  might  even  be  inclined 

J  O 

to  hug  his  chains,  he  must  break  away  this  evening. 
We  shall  see  much  of  him  still,  I  hope,  Martha,  my 
dear.  It  is  my  desire  that  the  households  shall  be  as 
one  while  you  are  at  Berkeley ; 

"  Which  reminds  me  that  Anne  Harrison  and  I  have 
arranged  for  an  out- door  tea  at  the  usual  place  to-mor 
row  afternoon.  She  has  a  large  party  of  people  with 
her  just  now.  I  shall  miss  you,  Lotsie,  when  I  set 
about  making  cake  and  pastry  in  the  morning." 

"  You  will  not  be  strong  enough  for  that,  or  the  tea- 
party,  unless  you  rest  now  !"  Miss  Lotsie  unpinned 


1I1S   GREAT  SELF.  167 

the  lace  turban  from  the  still-abundant  hair.  "  I  shall 
send  these  girls  away.  They  chatter  too  much.  You 
must  lie  down  !" 

She  opened  the  door,  motioned  the  worried  pair  to 
be  <rone  with  her  grimmest  air,  and  shut  them  out  with 

c>  O  ' 

an  impatient  "slam." 

"Her  seat  will  be  in  the  seventh  heaven !"  sighed 
Martha,  when  they  were  safe  in  Evelyn's  chamber. 
"  One  sentence  more,  and  I  should  have  torn  out  ray 
hair  by  hand  fu Is,  or  gnawed  the  flesh  from  my  arms,  or 
done  some  other  of  the  pleasant  tricks  maniacs  are 
credited  with.  My  child  !  you  were  never  so  beautiful 
before  in  your  life  as  when  the  Colonel  pledged  the 
health  of  '  our  brave  and  honored  guest,  Mr.  Francis.' 
What  a  grand  old  fellow  the  Colonel  is !  If  Heaven 

O 

had  made  me  such  a  man,  I  should  have  died  for  joy  on 
the  wedding-day  !" 

"  Never — so  long  as  you  could  live  to  play  guardian 
angel  to  another  woman  !"  said  Evelyn,  affectionately. 
"  How  could  I  have  lived  through  last  night  without 
you?  Can  I  live  through  the  next  week,  even  when 
you  are  by  to  stand  with  me  in  the  forefront  of  the 
battle?  I  have  sucked  the  sweetness  out  of  each 
minute  of  this  day — thirstily  !  I  would  not  look  back 
ward.  I  dared  not  look  forward.  Against  my  will,  I 
kept  saying  to  myself — or  heard  a  whisper  that  said — 
"This  may  be  your  last  day  of  perfect  happiness  on 
earth  !" 

"  It  was  a  lying  imp — and  an  impertinent !  And 
you  are  a  goose  to  heed  it.  The  skies  are  bright  and 
brightening.  I  could  have  married  Dick  Randolph  on 
the  spot — I'm  not  sure  I  shall  not  do  it,  anyhow — for 


168  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

affording  our  knight-errant  the  opportunity  of  vaulting 
into  the  Colonel's  favor.  Backing  Matoax  was  clever 
play — a  palpable  hit — and  the  largess  to  Caliban.  But 
the  hurdle-scene  bowled  him  clean  over.  Nor  have  I 
been  idle.  I  have  Monseigneur's  word  that  he  will 
listen  heed  fully  to  whatsoever  petitioner  may  present 
my  seal  as  his  warrant.  And  when  was  a  Byrd  ever 
known  to  retract  his  pledge  ?" 

"  Provided  it  were  given  intelligently  !"  demurred 
Evelyn.  "  If  I  could  only  see  with  your  eyes  !" 

"  You  must,  and  shall !  Courage,  ma  mie  !  He  who 
has  waited  so  long  is  as  brave  as  patient.  As  he  told 
you  this  morning  in  the  church-yard,  he  removes  him 
self  from  this  house  that  he  may  meet  your  father,  as 
man  meets  man,  unembarrassed  by  obligation  of  host 
and  guest.  To-morrow  night — not  one  day  or  one  hour 
later — he  will  shed  the  disguise  he  detests,  and  demand 
by  word  of  mouth  that  which  he  asked  by  letter — five 
— almost  six  years  ago. 

"So  long,  long  time  ago,  dear  heart!"  taking  the 
yielding  form  into  her  strong  young  arms,  and  kissing 
the  wet  eyes  and  trembling  mouth.  "  And  not  a  shadow 
of  change  in  that  faithful  soul  !  Whenever  opportunity 
of  eluding  the  vigilance  that  never  sleeps,  offered  itself, 
came  the  same  message  from  beyond  seas — '  I  am  wait 
ing  !'  Ah,  man  Dieu  !  what  constancy  in  the  teeth  of 
temptation,  of  time,  of  cruel  opposition  and  crueller 
silence  !  Evelyn  Byrd  !" — tender  cooing  exchanged  for 
energy  that  was  fierce, — "  if  you  let  that  man  go  home 
without  his  wife! — yes  !  the  word  is  spoken  !  (I  would 
as  lief  as  not  shriek  it  in  the  ears  of  the  wine-bibbers 
down-stairs!) — without  the  wife  he  has  served  for,  as 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  169 

Jacob  for  Rachel — I  am  afraid  I  shall  hate  you  !  I 
know  I  shall  despise  you  !" 

She  put  Evelyn  away  from  her,  and  walked  up  and 
down  the  room  fast — like  one  pursued.  Her  face  was 
begloomed,  her  eyes  flashed  fire ;  she  bit  her  lips 
angrily. 

"  When  I  think" — she  spat  out,  vehemently,  to  her 
self — not  to  the  listener — "  of  women  who  would  sell 
their  souls — everything  except  honor  and  loyalty — for 
what  I  have  to  beg  this  girl  to  take  when  it  is  thrust 
upon  her,  I  ask  myself  why  I  do  it — even  for  her" — 
and,  inarticulately — "  for  him  f 

Evelyn  ran  toward  her  and  put  both  hands  over  the 
changed  face. 

"  Hush  !  hush  !  I  cannot  endure  that  you  should  look 
like  that !  You  are  not  my  Martha — my  precious,  only 
friend  !  And" — lifting  her  finger,  waves  of  lovely  color 
breaking  over  a  face  that  had  been  pallid  under  the 
strange,  wild  upbraiding — "  you  will  be  overheard  ! 
That  is  his  voice  !" 

Martha  drew  her  with  her  to  the  window  and  peeped 
over  the  sill. 

Through  the  drawing-room  windows  and  hall-door 
and  front  steps  arose  the  babble  of  voices.  The  revel 
lers  were  cooling  heads  and  heels  in  the  sunset  air. 
Two  men  had  strayed  from  the  rest  along  the  rose- 
alley  and  halted  where  the  main  building  jutted  beyond 
the  right  wing.  A  rustic  chair  was  in  the  nook  thus 
formed,  and  into  this  Governor  Spotswood  let  himself 
stiffly  down  as  the  girls  looked  out  through  the  screen 
of  Virginia  creeper  curtaining  the  window  recessed  by 
the  chimney.  His  companion  took  an  easy  stand  against 
H  15 


170  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

a  tree  near  by.  With  one  arm  thrown  behind  him,  the 
right  leg  lightly  crossing  the  left,  the  sunbeams  weaving 
a  crown  of  his  hair,  he  stood  in  an  attitude  of  uncon 
scious  and  negligent  grace,  never  suspecting  what  wor 
shipping  eyes  were  scanning  him  from  above. 

"  The  wear  and  tear  of  years  and  labors  many, 
begin  to  tell  upon  me  !"  said  the  raucous  tones  of  the 
older  man.  "  And  the  bullet  I  got  at  Blenheim  re 
minds  me  somewhat  more  sharply  of  its  presence  than  it 
was  wont  to  do  a  score  of  years  back.  You  youngsters 
are  not  like  to  have  such  souvenirs  pressed  upon  your 
attention." 

"The  less  like  because  the  men  of  an  earlier  gen 
eration  had  so  many,"  returned  Francis,  deferentially. 
"  We  reap  the  harvest  of  your  sowing,  and,  I  trust,  not 
ungratefully.  Men  rail  at  war,  but  peace  is  the  fruit 
thereof." 

"That  man  drew  in  diplomacy  with  his  mother's 
milk  !"  whispered  Martha,  in  an  agony  of  admiration. 

The  ex-Governor  rapped  his  cane  upon  the  gravel, 
smartly  and  repeatedly. 

"  A  just  observation,  sir,  and  fitly  spoken  !  It  is 
much  the  fashion,  nowadays,  to  decry  former  times  as 
rude  and  violent.  Your  curled  and  laced  jack-a-dandy 
talks  mincingly  of  '  needless  and  foolish  bloodshed,' 
wiping  away  the  ugly  word  from  his  mouth  with  his 
scented  cambric,  and  holding  his  nose  at  stories  of 
battle-fields,  never  reflecting, — shallow-pate  as  he  is  ! — 
that,  but  for  the  carrion  of  those  fields,  he  would  be  a 
hind  under  the  whip  of  a  foreign  master." 

"  Posterity  will  be  more  grateful.  We  are  too  near 
the  scene  to  paint  it  fairly.  When  the  smoke  of  battle 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  171 

shall  have  lifted,  and  such  landmarks  in  the  world's 
history  as  Blenheim  be  set  aright,  their  true  prominence 
will  be  seen  to  the  eternal  honor  of  those  to  whom  our 
national  freedom  and  national  glory  are  due." 

"  Hear !  hear !"  motioned  Martha's  lips. 

The  cane  scattered  the  gravel  right  and  left. 

"I  would  to  heaven,  sir,  that  a  few  of  our  young 
fools  could  be  put  to  school  to  you  !  Why,  sir,  there's 
not  an  acre  of  the  tens  of  thousands  that  now  blossom 
like  the  rose  in  this  new  land  of  ours  that  was  not  paid 
for  with  human  lives, — with  heart's  blood,  sir !  The 
very  ground  on  which  we  now  stand" — tapping  it — 
"  was  strewn  with  corpses  in  1622.  At  Berkeley  Hun 
dred,  seventeen  men,  women,  and  children  were  killed  in 
the  Indian  massacre  of  that  date.  At  Westover,  thirty- 
three!  Up  and  down  the  James  River,  three  hundred 
and  forty-seven  innocent  victims  to  savage  cruelty  per 
ished  at  one  fell  swoop.  And  of  this — the  price  of 
lands,  peace,  and  liberty — our  coxcomb  quibbles  and 
prates !  A  pest  upon  his  tribe !  say  I.  I  cannot 
contain  my  tongue  in  thinking  upon  it !" 

"  I  was  told,  some  days  ago,  of  a  curious  subterra 
nean  chamber,  connected  with  this  house,  which,  tradi 
tion  says,  was  constructed  as  a  hiding-place  from  the 
Indians,  shortly  after  the  massacre  of  which  you  speak. 
Is  it  your  belief  that  the  tale  is  true  ?" 

"  True  as  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  sir ! 
Had  you  descended  the  ladder  into  what  is  now  the 
Westover  meat-cellar,  you  would  have  found  the  opening 
to  be  a  dry  well,  funnel-shaped  and  lined  with  mortar. 
Fifteen  feet  below  the  surface,  this  branches  into  two 
square  chambers,  also  of  brick,  with  smoothly-plastered 


172  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

sides.  A  round  stone  table  is  in  the  middle  of  each, 
spread  to-day,  I  dare  say,  with  cold  baked  meats  left 
from  the  race-dinner, —  a  rare  good  one,  by  the  way, 
even  for  Madam  Byrd's  kitchen. 

"  That  cellar,  sir,  meant  PERIL  by  day  and  by  night ! 
Peril  of  rapine  and  murder,  and  torture  worse  than 
death  ;  and  babies'  brains  dashed  out  before  mothers' 
eyes,  and  fair  virgins  carried  into  captivity  and  loath 
some  concubinage,  and  voung  men  roasted  at  the  stake, 

O     /  »/  O 

and  the  Lord,  who  made  mankind  of  one  blood,  alone 
knows  what  other  horrors  of  these  then  dark  places  of 
earth  !  To  guard  against  these,  the  early  settlers  bur 
rowed  in  the  earth  like  moles,  and  plastered  caves  like 
beavers,  sir.  From  the  Westover  secret  chamber  was 
laid  a  passage  to  the  river  by  which  the  hunted  ones 
might  escape  to  the  boats.  The  mouth  of  that  gallery 
was  bricked  up  long  ago  in  the  chamber  wall  and  cov 
ered  with  mortar.  The  river  outlet  has  probably  caved 
in.  In  fact,  I  think  nobody  has  troubled  himself  to 
look  up  the  precise  locality  of  it." 

"  In  subduing  and  settling  a  country,  little  attention 
is  paid  to  the  preservation  of  historical  relics,"  remarked 
Francis.  "  In  another  hundred  years,  the  very  site  of 
Old  Jamestown  will  be  uncertain.  As  soon  as  a  thing 
becomes  unprofitable,  it  would  seem  to  be  abandoned 
without  let  or  scruple." 

The  ex-Governor  bored  the  ferrule  of  his  cane  slowly 
into  the  ground,  his  chin  sunk  upon  his  breast.  The 
listeners  above  exchanged  regretful  glances  Without 
verbal  consultation,  they  were  one  in  the  desire  that  the 
young  stranger  should  secure  himself  in  the  great  man's 
good  graces.  Spotswoocl's  influence  with  Colonel  Byrd 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  173 

was  more  considerable  than  that  of  any  other  associate, 
and  in  the  coming  struggle  they  reckoned  upon  every 
possible  ally.  Francis  had  made  his  first  false  step. 
Gerrnanna,  the  town  founded  by  the  Virginian  Tubal 
Cain  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  his  own  home,  had 
been  already  treated  of  in  Colonel  Byrd's  diary,  after 
one  of  his  visits,  in  the  following  airy  fashion  : 

"  This  famous  town  consists  of  Colo.  Spotswood's 
Enchanted  Castle  on  one  side  of  the  street,  and  a  baker's 
dozen  of  ruinous  tenements  on  the  other,  where  as 
many  German  families  had  dwelt  some  years  ago,  but 
are  now  removed,  ten  miles  higher  in  the  Fork  of 
Rappahannock,  to  land  of  their  own.  There  had  also 
been  a  chapel  about  a  bow-shot  from  the  Colonel's 
house,  at  the  end  of  an  avenue  of  cherry-trees,  but 
some  pions  people  had  lately  burned  it  down,  with 
intent  to  get  another  built  nearer  to  their  own  homes." 

The  flippant  lash  at  the  man  whom  the  people  lie  had 
served  never  rightly  esteemed  when  his  popularity  was 
greatest,  tells  more  forcibly  than  animadversion,  of  the 
wane  of  influence  and  fortune.  "  The  people  of  Vir 
ginia,"  says  a  Scottish  historian,  "  ought  to  have  erected 
a  statue  to  the  memory  of  a  ruler  who  gave  them  the 
manufacture  of  iron,  and  showed  them  by  his  active 
example  that  it  is  diligence  and  attention  which  can 
alone  make  a  people  great.  .  .  .  Had  he  attended  more 
to  the  courtly  maxim  of  Charles  the  Second,  ( to  quarrel 
with  no  man,  however  great  might  be  the  provocation, 
since  he  knew  not  how  soon  he  should  be  obliged  to  act 
with  him,'  that  able  officer  might  be  recommended  as 
the  model  of  a  provincial  governor." 

Although  few  except  his  beautiful  English  wife  knew 
15* 


174:  HIS   ORE  AT  SELF. 

it,  he  was  even  now  revolving  ways  and  means  of 
retreat  with  least  loss  and  mortification  from  a  position 
that  had  become  untenable.  Exile  from  the  beloved 
land  of  his  adoption  was  faced  as  courageously  as  the 
foe  upon  the  battle-field,  but  in  genuine  sadness. 

One  hand  stole  up  to  the  jewelled  horseshoe  hung 
upon  his  breast,  the  only  ornament  of  apparel  that  was 
studiously  simple,  as  became  his  sturdy  republicanism. 

"  Pardon  me  !" — Francis  ended  the  painful  reverie 
by  saying  in  gentlest  respect, — "  but  having  heard  the 
wondrous  history  of  that  badge,  I  have,  naturally,  the 
wish  to  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  inspecting  it  more 
closely," 

The  facial  barometers  in  the  window  overhead,  had 
he  seen  them,  would  have  relieved  his  painful  mis 
givings.  The  misstep  was  retrieved.  The  veteran 
reared  his  head  proudly  erect,  as,  detaching  the  trinket 
from  his  vest,  he  placed  it  in  the  other's  hands. 

"  You  perceive  that  it  bears  the  words,  '  Sic  juvat 
iranscendere  monies,'  and,  as  you  have  probably  been 
informed,  only  the  brave  men  who  with  me  planted  the 
standard  of  King  George  the  First  upon  the  summit 
of  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  have  the  right  to  bear 
it.  No  man  who  cannot  prove  that  he  drank  His 
Majesty's  health  upon  Mount  George  dare  claim  mem 
bership  in  the  Tramontane  Order." 

"  A  mountain  that  will  be  your  memorial  rather  than 
that  of  His  Majesty  !"  rejoined  Francis,  handling  the 
badge  in  sincere  reverence. 

"  Run  to  earth  !"  cried  jocund  tones,  and  the  Master 
of  Westover  appeared  around  the  projecting  corner, 
with  half  a  dozen  men  at  his  heels.  "Alexander 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  175 

Spotswood  !  have  you  no  bowels  of  compassion,  that 
you  drag  this  innocent  stranger  '  thorough  bush  and 
thorough  brier'  to  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  cram  him 
with  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Shoe,  and — I  dare  swear,  lest  he  should  have 
forgot  the  memorable  battles  of  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough, — have  fought  them  over  again  for  the  nine- 
and-fortieth  time  within  the  month." 

The  roar  of  vinous  laughter  from  his  followers 
drowned  Francis's  eager  protest.  Spotswood,  scorning 
all  attempt  at  self- vindication,  purpled  furiously,  put 
out  an  imperative  hand  for  the  precious  memento,  and 
was  stalking  away  in  wrathful  silence  when  a  fresh 
interruption  occurred. 

Beyond  that  wing  of  the  house  in  which  were  the 
kitchen  and  other  offices,  the  front  and  back  yards  were 
separated  by  a  fence,  a  wicket-gate  giving  entrance  from 
one  to  the  other.  The  hubbub  of  voices  in  hot  dispute 
preceded  the  bursting  open  of  the  wicket,  and  two 
figures,  locked  in  deadly  embrace,  rolled  across  a  strip 
of  turf  upon  the  gravel-walk,  wrestling,  scratching,  and 
biting  like  wolves,  too  mad  to  see  where  they  were,  or 
in  what  presence,  until  the  gentlemen  hurried  up  in  a 
body  to  separate  them.  Torn  violently  apart,  each 
glanced  at  the  other,  panting  and  bloody,  shaking  with 
rage,  not  terror. 

The  combatants  were  Caliban,  in  the  smart  livery  in 
which  he  had  won  the  race  and  afterward  waited  at 
table,  and  Selim,  the  dwarfish  jockey  who  had  brought 
in  the  Corotoman  horse  second  at  the  finish.  The  elfish 
blackamoor  looked  the  uglier  for  the  disorder  of  his 
white  raiment,  and  the  fiendish  malignity  contorting  his 


176  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

features.  His  clawlike  hands  opened  and  shut  con 
vulsively,  clutching  the  empty  air  as  they  might  his 
adversary's  throat.  Colin  Bass  pinioned  Caliban's  arms 
with  liis  powerful  hands.  Colonel  Carter,  to  whose 
father  Selim  belonged,  seized  the  dwarf,  but  could  not 
manage  him  until  Mr.  Harrison,  his  brother-in-law, 
came  to  his  help. 

Colonel  Byrd  advanced  a  step  in  front  of  his  guests, 
and  surveyed  the  pair  in  cool  disgust  that  shortly 
wrought  upon  them  like  a  douche  of  icy  water. 

"  A  gentleman's  door-yard  is  not  the  place  for  dog 
fights,"  he  observed  when  he  had  looked  the  trespassers 
over  for  a  minute  of  dreadful  silence.  "  When  the  dogs 
are  mad — as  these  would  seem  to  be — they  are  shot  or 
hanged.  If  there  is  any  doubt  as  to  their  madness, 
they  are  tied  up  for  nine  days,  or  until  they  foam  at  the 
mouth." 

All  this  with  judicial  deliberation,  open  snuff-box  in 
hand,  thumb  and  finger  delicately  poised  for  a  pinch, 
which  he  now  partook  of  leisurely,  holding  the  culprits 
with  the  glitter  of  his  almond-shaped  eyes. 

"  Harrison !  Colonel  Carter  !  I  turn  the  Lancaster 
varlet  over  to  you.  As  for  the  other,  I  wish  the  black- 
a-vised  devil  had  strangled  him  outright  for  having 
disgraced  his  bringing-up  by  fighting  another  gentle 
man's  servant  upon  my  premises.  Mr.  Bass  !  take  him 
off  and  give  him  nine-and-thirty,  well  laid  on.  If  he 
resists,  send  for  me!" 

Caliban  broke  from  his  captor  with  a  quick  wrench 
and  writhe  of  his  supple  body,  and  flung  himself  at  the 
judge's  feet. 

"  Marster !  my  dear  marster !   you  may  beat  me  to 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  177 

death  ef  you  like,  an'  I  won'  say  a  word  !  But  don'  let 
him  tech  me,  for  de  Lord's  sake.  You  may  cut  de 
heart  out  o'  me  !  Any  o'  you  gem'men  may  tromple 
on  me  !  My  marster  may  shoot  me  dade,  or  string 
me  up  ter  er  tree,  dis  minnit,  an'  I  won'  min'  it !  But, 
my  marster — my  good,  sweet  marster !  you  won'  'low 
no  po'  white  folks  ter  lay  er  han'  'pou  one  o'  you' 
servants  !" 

He  begged  like  one  at  the  door  of  death,  tears,  wash 
ing  the  blood  and  dirt  from  his  face,  showed  the  ghastly 
yellow  of  the  skin  beneath,  He  would  have  embraced 
his  master's  feet  and  kissed  them,  had  not  the  Colonel 
drawn  back  as  from  a  wet  dog.  The  other  side  of  the 
paling  was  lined  with  negroes,  great  and  small,  cowering 
with  dread  and  terrified  into  dumbness,  but  the  language 
of  the  rolling  eyeballs  was  "unmistakable.  The  secre 
tary  was  the  object  of  universal  contempt  that  had  sud 
denly  heated  into  enmity. 

The  master  readjusted  the  lid  of  his  snuff-box,  and 
filliped  a  few  grains  of  the  "  Byrd  mixture"  from  his 
lace  ruffles. 

"  Where  is  Mr.  Booker,  Osiris  ?"  he  asked  of  the 
butler,  who  had  come  out  of  the  front  door  and  taken 
a  stand  in  the  rear  of  the  group  of  gentlemen.  The 
Colonel's  manner  was  unmoved  from  the  nonchalance 
with  which  he  had  pronounced  sentence  upon  the  evil 
doer.  "  Ah  !  here  he  is  !"  as  the  dusky  ranks  opened 
to  let  the  overseer  pass  through.  "Mr.  Booker!  this 
boy  is  to  be  flogged,  and  by  Mr.  Bass, — if  he  will  be  so 
good  as  to  do  me  the  favor.  Will  you  see  that  all  goes 
well  ?" 

It  did  not  sound   merciful,  but  Evelyn,  leaning  in 


178  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

strained  solicitude  from  the  open  window,  thoughtless 
of  possible  observation  in  her  anxiety  for  the  petted 
page,  clasped  her  hands,  and  fell  to  weeping  so  violently 
that  Martha  pulled  her  back  into  the  room. 

"  Thank  GOD  !"  she  cried.  "  Mr.  Booker  is  never 
cruel !  I  could  not  have  borne  to  have  my  poor  boy 
misused!  Did  you  see  that  man's  look  when  Caliban 
was  praying  Papa  that  he  should  not  touch  him?  It 
was  but  a  flash,  but  it  scared  me  like  a  glimpse  of  hell ! 
I  never  dreamed  he  could  be  like  that!" 

"He  is  a  snake!"  Martha  pronounced,  composedly. 
"  A  cold,  deadly,  subtle,  creeping  snake  that  even  the 
bottomless  pit  could  not  warm.  I  saw  all  that — and 
more !" 


CHAPTER    XIY. 

WESTOVER  was  dark  and  still  at  an  early  hour  that 
evening.  Most  of  the  guests  had  dispersed  to  their 
several  homes  before  dark.  The  chariot  containing 
Miss  Jaqueline,  her  duenna,  her  maid  and  luggage, 
was  escorted  to  Berkeley  by  Messrs.  Francis  and  Har 
rison,  Colonel  Carter  and  Lieutenant  Maynard.  The 
ball  of  the  previous  night,  the  race  and  the  race-dinner 
sufficiently  excused  Madam  and  Miss  Byrd  for  non- 
appearance  in  the  drawing-room  after  supper.  The 
ex-Governor  and  his  host  had  smoked  an  amicable  pipe 
together  at  bedtime.  The  lord  of  Germanna  was  iras 
cible,  but  never  sulky,  and  the  raillery  that  had  touched 
him  upon  two  tender  points  was  soon  forgiven.  Since 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  179 

lie  must  resume  his  journey  upon  the  morrow,  he 
sought  his  couch  betimes. 

A  dreary,  reactionary  lull  settled  down  upon  the 
premises,  as  the  autumn  fog  upon  the  river.  Frogs 
bellowed  at  the  foot  of  the  lawn  ;  tree-toads  droned 
their  high,  teasing  notes  in  the  tulip-poplars  by  the 
front  door,  and  a  whippoorwill  cried  to  the  blind  night 
from  the  bnrying-ground. 

Caliban  had  waited  at  table,  as  usual,  although  his 
mistress — kind  of  heart  if  quick  of  reproof — would 
fain  have  spared  him  the  ordeal.  Colonel  Byrd  was 
not  a  harsh  ruler,  yet  a  martinet  in  the  matter  of 
plantation  discipline.  The  lad's  absence  would  have 
been  construed  into  sullenness,  and  sharp  account  be 
demanded  therefor.  He  was  at  his  post  behind  Eve 
lyn's  chair,  in  neat  livery.  Complexion  and  eyes  were 
dull,  but  he  was  not  otherwise  changed  from  his  wonted 
aspect.  Only,  the  kitchen  junta  knew  what  the  least 
pickaninny  there  would  not  have  revealed  to  a  white 
under  the  cowhide.  When  the  house-work  was  done, 
and  the  servants  ready  to  partake  of  their  nocturnal 
meal,  and  Isis,  the  priestess  of  the  high  rites,  called 
the  boy's  attention  to  the  liberal  mess  of  delicacies 
Madam  Byrd  had  sent  out  for  his  use  by  the  hand  of 
Osiris,  he  snatched  it  from  the  table,  and  tossed  it 
through  the  door  to  the  dogs  waiting  without  for  their 
pickings  of  the  feast. 

The  general  grunt  that  followed  the  act  was  suc 
ceeded  by  a  united  groan,  as  the  humbled  favorite 
dashed  out  into  the  darkness,  and  did  not  return. 

"  Marster  done  been  gone  too  fur  wid  dat  po'  chile  !" 
was  the  verdict  of  fat  Isis,  her  turban  nodding  omi- 


180  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

nously.  "  He  got  Injun  blood  in  'im,  an'  tain'  never 
safe  ter  fool  'long  Injun  blood.  We  ain'  been  see  de 
las'  o'  dis  day's  wuk,  rnun  !" 

The  bad  mixture  of  savagery  in  the  boy's  soul  and 
body  was  in  boiling  ferment;  heart  and  brain  \vere 
on  fire,  as  he  plunged  down  the  garden-walk,  leaped 
the  wall  of  the  church-yard,  and  took  his  way  up  the 
river. 

The  bank  was,  for  the  most  part,  a  jungle  of  brush 
wood  and  interlooping  vines, — grape,  poison-oak,  and 
bamboo, — but  he  threaded  the  labyrinth  as  if  the  time 
were  mid-day,  and  the  way  a  beaten  path.  There 
were  black-snakes  and  moccasins  in  the  thickets;  he 
believed  in  ghosts  and  bogies  more  firmly  than  in  the 
white  man's  GOD;  now  and  then  a  thorny  branch  tore 
his  ankle  or  shoulder.  He  tramped  on  until  clean  out 
of  sight  of  lighted  windows  and  the  sound  of  human 

O  O 

voices, — threw  himself  down  on  the  brow  of  a  cliff, 
cleft  by  a  wooded  ravine,  and  tried  to  put  his  trooping, 
maddening  ideas  in  order. 

His  arms  under  his  head,  his  face  to  the  sky,  where, 
between  rising  fogs,  a  pale  star  winked  at  him,  now 
and  then,  he  let  the  turbid  flood  of  thought  and  feeling 

'  O  O 

rack  itself  into  clearness  of  sight  and  purpose. 

The  wrong  done  him  was  irreparable,  the  insult 
deadly.  He  had  been  exalted  unto  a  heaven  of  favor 
to  be  thrust  down  to  a  hell  of  infamy.  He  could  never 
again  carry  his  head  high  and  saucily  in  the  sight  of 
friend  and  foe.  He  recollected  the  Caliban  of  yester 
day, — swaggering  across  the  yard,  admired  and  copied 
by  the  pickaninnies,  strutting  past  Osiris  in  the  still- 
room  behind  his  mistress's  back  and  sticking  his  tongue 


HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

into  his  cheek,  his  head  on  one  side,  to  the  holy  horror 
of  the  dignitary  who  durst  not  resent  the  insult  in  his 
lady's  presence.  He  recalled  the  harum-scarum  as  if 
it  were  some  one  who  had  died  and  been  buried  since 
then. 

The  whipping  was  nothing  in  itself.  He  had  tasted 
the  overseer's  lash  more  than  once,  and  been  no  more 
disgraced  by  it  than  by  the  thump  of  Isis's  wooden 
spoon  upon  his  pate,  or  his  mistress's  box  upon  his  ear. 
It  was  a  part  of  education  and  every-day  experience  in 
his  class.  He  despised  poor  whites  upon  caste  and  race 
principles.  If  the  flogging  had  been  delegated  to  the 
meanest  field-hand,  he  would  have  been  surprised,  but 
not  degraded.  The  secretary  sat  at  his  employer's  table ; 
slept  under  his  employer's  roof,  and  mingled  upon 
terms  of  apparent  equality  with  the  most  distinguished 
guests  who  came  to  the  house.  None  of  these  advan 
tages  raised  him  the  fraction  of  a  degree  in  the  respect 
of  the  born  serfs  whom  he  reckoned  as  less  than  the 
dust  he  shook  from  Ins  well-shod  feet.  They  were 
cognizant  of  his  ignoble  parentage;  they  could  have 
named  over  to  a  man  or  woman  all  the  "  no  'count 
kinfolks"  he  tried  to  forget,  who  lived  "  'way  back  in 
New  Kent  County."  That  he  had  their  master's  con 
fidence ;  that  he  was  a  capital  accountant,  a  skilful 
penman,  and  a  man  of  tolerable  erudition  in  manv 
branches  of  learning,  weighed  naught  with  them,  and 
less  than  naught.  Any  show  of  attainment  and  refine 
ment  was  "  puttin'  on  a'rs." 

Over  and  beyond  all  this,  Caliban,  as  we  have  seen, 
bore  a  personal  dislike  to  the  smug  official,  and  knew 
it  to  be  reciprocated.  Every  stripe  from  Bass's  hand 

16 


182  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

laid  open  his  pride  to  the  quickest  core.  He  had  not 
struck  hard.  The  surveillance  of  the  overseer — 
pledged  to  his  conscience  to  see  that  his  employer's 
property  was  never  injured — prevented  absolute  cru 
elty.  His  master's  cane  would  have  drawn  blood, 
and  left  bruises  for  days,  whereas,  he  was  no  worse  an 
hour  after  the  punishment,  for  a  single  blow.  What 
had  added  to  the  ignominy  of  the  sentence  was  Bass's 
smile,  as  he  brandished  the  whip  before  the  victim's 
eyes  and  the  taunt  with  which  he  laid  it  by,  the  flagel 
lation  being  over : 

"I  don't  soil  my  hands  with  this  sort  of  work, 
generally,  Booker.  But  the  Colonel  made  a  point  of  it, 
and  I  couldn't  refuse  him  a  favor.  Not  but  what  I 
rather  enjoy  cutting  the  comb  of  an  impudent  young 
rooster  when  I  get  a  chance." 

The  boy  rolled  over  the  biting  words  in  his  memory 
until  his  fingers  dug  into  the  soil  and  tore  up  grass  and 
herbs  by  the  roots.  One  thing,  and  one  only,  could 
ever  extract  the  shameful  sting,  or  wash  out  the  stain 
from  his  honor; — he  would  have  that  man's  life,  sooner 
or  later.  Upon  his  smarting  soul  he  stamped  a  black 
cross  against  Bass's  name. 

When  he  left  the  house  in  which  he  was  born,  he 
meant  to  return  no  more.  There  were  runaways  in 
the  depths  of  Virginia  forests  who  had  been  "out"  for 
years.  In  the  Dismal  Swamp — if  the  stories  he  had 
heard  on  winter's  nights  by  the  kitchen  fire  were  true 
— was  a  colony  of  this  most  pitiable  class  of  outlaws, 
who  were  free  until  caught  by  the  militia  patrol,  and 
always  dangerous.  In  a  hut,  not  much  better  than  a 
Westover  dog-kennel,  upon  the  edge  of  White  Oak 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  183 

Swamp,  between  the  James  and  the  Chickahominy,  lived 
the  only  known  relative  he  had  on  his  father's  side, — 
the  Indian  grandmother  whose  reputation  as  a  witch 
made  her  to  be  both  respected  and  feared  by  the  negroes. 
Caliban's  visits  to  her  had  not  been  many.  When  he 
was  a  little  fellow,  Miss  Evelyn  had  prevailed  upon  her 
step-mother  to  send  him  by  the  hand  of  an  older  ser 
vant  the  ten  miles  and  more  that  lay  between  his  home 
and  that  of  the  squaw,  that  his  father's  mother  might  see 
into  what  a  "likely"  lad  he  was  growing.  Within  the 
past  year  he  had  twice  helped  himself  to  a  horse  from 
the  stables,  and  visited  the  crone  by  night,  spending 
some  hours  in  her  cabin,  partaking  of  the  hot  supper 
she  hastened  to  cook  for  him,  and  returning  before  dawn 
with  the  "  love-powder"  the  head-hostler  had  commis 
sioned  him  to  procure  as  the  bribe  for  the  liberal  wink 
he  would  deal  out  next  morning  to  the  travel-worn 
condition  of  the  steed. 

Caliban's  hastily-formed  design  had  been  to  make 
her  house  a  temporary  asylum  until  he  could  open  com 
munication  with  the  runaways.  He  had  in  his  pocket 
the  purse  flung  to  him  by  the  English  gentleman  that 
morning.  He  was  counting  the  contents  at  the  back  of 
the  kitchen  when  Selim  prowled  around  the  corner  and 
made  a  grab  for  the  coins,  beginning  the  quarrel  that 
ended  so  miserably.  There  was  enough  money  to  make 
him  a  great  personage  in  the  outlaw  settlement. 

But  to  go  and  leave  unpunished  the  man  who  had 
robbed  him  of  a  good  name,  good  clothes,  good  friends, 
a  good  home — was  this  consistent,  upon  second  thoughts, 
with  what  he  had  been  taught  was  his  forefathers' 
highest  law — never  to  forgive,  or  to  forget  an  injury? 


184  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

When  he  went,  he  ought  to  leave  something  behind  him 
for  people  to  talk  about,  a  warning  to  evil-doers  for  the 
future.  His  "granny"  had  charged  him  to  come  to 
her  if  he  ever  got  into  trouble.  She  had  said  something 
else,  her  black  eyes  snapping,  and  skinny  neck  out 
stretched  like  a  snake's  : 

"  If  white  man,  or  black  'oman  git  in  you'  way,  knife 
an'  bullet  no  good.  Too  much  blood.  Blood  tell  tales. 
I  show  yon  better  way.  Come  to  me." 

He  was  less  shocked  than  if  tales  of  poisoning  and 
"  tricking"  had  not  been  rife  among  the  negroes.  He 
knew  what  she  meant.  He  would  go  back  to  the  house  ; 
bribe  the  head-hostler  with  a  coin  from  his  hoard,  and 
consult  the  wise  woman  that  very  night. 

The  evil  seed  flowered  and  fruited  fast.  Others 
beside  the  secretary  must  be  reckoned  with.  He  could 
never  forget  how  his  master  looked  and  spoke  when  he 
begged  him  not  to  let  Bass  touch  him.  And  after  he 
had  won  the  race  for  him,  he  had  given  Selim  money 
and  had  never  a  word  for  Caliban.  He  could  fancy, 
too,  how  Colonel  Byrd  would  hunt  for  him  when  his 
flight  was  discovered.  Even  "  the  Dismal"  would  not 
deter  him,  for  he  had  headed  the  party  that  had  laid 
the  dividing-line  through  it,  when  Caliban  was  a  little 
boy.  Nothing  else  was  talked  of  for  weeks  but  that 
Dividing-Line,  and  the  horrors  of  the  mighty  morass. 
Caliban  had  a  fixed  impression  of  how  the  mysterious 
Line  looked,  and  of  catching  his  foot  in  it  as  he  ran, 
and  being  overtaken  by  his  master  before  he  could  free 
himself. 

It  would  be  best  to  put  the  poison  into  the  coffee 
some  morning.  The  Colonel  and  his  secretary  took 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  185 

two  cups  apiece, — his  mistress  one,  sometimes,  generally 
preferring  tea.  She  must  take  her  chance,  he  decided. 
He  owed  her  no  good-will  iu  his  present  humor.  She 
had  been  tart  with  him,  after  supper,  for  dropping  but 
ter  upon  her  gown,  and  had,  in  times  past,  made  life 
miserable  to  him  in  many  ways. 

"  Thank  GOD,"  thought  the  murderous  little  heathen, 
"Mis'  Evelyn  allers  take  choc'lat !" 

She  had  eyed  him  kindly  as  he  passed  the  bread  to 
her  to-night,  and  the  gentle,  "  No,  thank  you,  Caliban  !" 
when  there  was  no  need  to  do  more  than  shake  her 
head,  sounded  in  his  ear  now  like  music.  Nobody  in 
the  kitchen  had  dared  speak  to  him  directly  of  his 
humiliation,  but  Isis  had  managed  to  have  him  over 
hear  her  say  to  a  scullion  that  "  Viney  says  as  how  po' 
Mis'  Evelyn  done  mos'  cry  her  sweet  eves  out,  sence  she 
see  de  carr'in'ons  in  de  yard,  dat  ebenin' !" 

Thought  of  the  one  sweet  drop  in  the  nauseous  cup 
held  to  his  lips  at  the  close  of  the  day  he  hoped  to 
reckon  as  the  proudest  of  his  life,  broke  the  boy's  heart 
into  a  passionate  rain  of  tears.  He  rolled  on  the  ground 
in  the  violence  of  his  voiceless  sobs.  He  was  hardly 
more  than  a  child,  and  a  petted  child  at  that,  and, 
although  he  would  have  flouted  the  charge  as  derogatory 

O  O  O  •/ 

to  his  manhood,  as  soft-hearted  as  a  baby  where  the 
affections  came  into  play. 

The  plash  of  oars  approaching  the  shore,  and  the  soft 
"swish"  of  water  on  the  land  checked  the  paroxysm.  He 
raised  his  head  to  listen.  The  bank  on  which  he  lay 
overhung  the  narrow  beach,  and  the  fog  was  so  dense 
that  his  keen  sight  could  discern  nothing,  although  the 
boat  was  already  beached  with  a  muffled,  crushing  sound. 

16* 


186  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

"  Mighty  funny  dey  should  take  all  dat  pains  to  come 
in  easy,"  reflected  the  boy,  on  the  qui  vive  in  an  instant. 
"  Dem  rowlocks  done  been  wropped  wid  rags,  else  I'd 
'a'  heern  'em  sooner  !" 

He  dragged  himself  by  his  elbows  to  the  brink  and 
reached  over,  straining  his  eyes  for  other  sign  of  the 
intruders  than  the  crunching  footfalls  upon  the  sandy 
shingle,  and  an  occasional  whisper.  There  were  two 
men,  he  soon  concluded,  and  they  were  bringing  ashore 
a  heavy  burden.  He  could  hear  their  hard  breathing, 
once  in  a  while  a  grunt,  and  that  they  staggered  in  the 
yielding  gravel.  The  load,  whatever  it  was,  was  laid 
down;  there  was  the  rattling  of  dried  sticks  or  twigs, 
and  the  rustle  of  green  boughs,  then  the  sound  of  let 
ting  a  heavy  stone  down  cautiously  upon  the  earth,  and 
the  men  went  back  for  what  they  had  brought  to  land. 
Then  ensued  the  clatter  of  shoes  upon  a  pavement,  and 
all  noises  became  oddly  subdued. 

The  boy's  hair  stiffened  and  stirred  upon  his  head. 
Stories  of  hobgoblins  and  spectres,  of  murders  and  ab 
ductions,  and  devils  carrying  lost  sonls  into  the  side  of 
a  hill  that  closed  behind  them  after  they  entered  this  one 
of  the  many  ways  to  hell, — rushed  in  upon  his  memory. 
The  cold  sweat  dripped,  from  his  face  upon  the  crum 
bling  verge  that,  every  moment,  threatened  to  cave  in 
and  precipitate  him  into  the  clutches  of  the  ghostly 
visitants, — yet  he  durst  not  budge  an  inch  lest  the  fall 
of  a  pebble,  or  the  crackle  of  a  stick  should  betray  him. 

They  were  coming  out!  He  could  detect  the  rub  of 
clothing  against  the  sides  of  the  aperture,  and  that  they 
straightened  themselves  in  the  open  air  with  long 
breaths,  as  after  stooping  in  a  low  chamber. 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  187 

A  rougli  voice  spoke  : 

"  'Tis  a sultry  night,  an'  dark  's  a  wolf's  mouth, 

with  this fog  !" 

"  All  the  better!"  was  the  answer  in  a  more  cautious 
key.  "  Here's  the  crowbar  !  Up  with  her  !" 

Caliban  fumbled  wildly  for  the  projecting  roots  fring 
ing  the  bank,  and  clung  to  them  desperately.  His  brain 
toppled,  and  his  breath  almost  stopped.  For  the  last 
speaker  was  the  man  whose  death  he  was  plotting,  the 
being  in  all  creation  whom  he  had  most  occasion  to 
dread  and  detest. 

His  wits  cleared  abruptly.  Now  that  his  superstitious 
fears  were  allayed,  he  was  no  craven.  Imagination 
leaped  eagerly  to  the  belief  that,  by  dogging  the  mid 
night  prowler,  he  might  taste  a  more  exquisite  revenge, 
than  by  robbing  him  of  existence  without  letting  him 
know  by  whose  hand  he  met  his  fate.  Still  hearkening 
as  for  his  soul's  salvation,  he  heard  the  stone  heaved 
back  into  position,  the  rustling  foliage,  the  heaping  up 
of  what  he  now  knew  to  be  river-drift ;  then,  the  men 
seemed  to  kneel,  and  smooth  the  shingle  with  their 
hands, — no  doubt  to  efface  footprints. 

Bass  spoke  again,  so  close  beneath  Caliban's  head  that 
he  feared  that  his  breathing  must  be  audible  : 

"  You'll  be  off,  then,  Monday  night  ?  Do  you  touch 
below  this  ?" 

"  That's  accordin' !  I've  a  promise  o'  summat  at 
Maycox,  an'  Wyanoake,  an'  th'  Brandon  overseer  's  cut 
his  eye-teeth,  an'  's  apt  to  take  advantage  of  a  good 
captain  goin'  down.  Th'  other  places  is  mos'ly  nigger- 
work,  an'  don'  count  fer  much.  'Tain'  every  white  man 
who's  got  your  long  hade,  let  'lone  niggers." 


188  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Why  do  you  fool  with  them,  at  all  ?  You  get 
enough  to  do  without  them." 

"  Every  little  counts  !  An'  a  man  doesn'  like  to  lose 
any  chance  o'  turnin'  a  hones'  penny  !" 

Nothing  more  was  said.  The  men  pushed  the  boat 
off,  clambered  into  her,  and  the  muffled  strokes  were  lost 
in  the  distance. 

Caliban  worked  himself  back  into  his  former  position, 
and  lay  still,  his  hands  clasped  behind  his  head,  staring 
up  at  the  whitening  sky. 

"  De  moon  risin' !"  he  muttered.  "  Soon  's  she  f'arly 
ober  de  top  o'  de  trees,  I  gwine  see  what  dis  yere 
mean,  my  gentleman  !  I  ain'  been  come  out  yere  fur 
iiuthin' !" 

Having  changed  his  purpose  of  running  away,  ami 
postponed  his  visit  to  his  granddam,  he  was  patient  in 
waiting.  The  silvery  shimmer  of  the  motionless  mists 
showed  him  how  to  descend  from  his  perch  to  the 
water's  level.  The  shelving  space  below  the  cliff  was 
nearly  filled  with  drift  and  dead  branches  that  seemed 
to  have  fallen  from  the  trees  overhead.  He  cleared 
these  away,  breaking  them  as  little  as  possible,  patiently 
and  deftly  scraping  aside  leaves  and  sticks,  and  holding 
back  living  branches  growing  low  on  the  bank,  until 
he  touched  a  rough  flat  stone  set  perpendicularly  in  the 
earth.  Foreseeing  the  need  of  it,  lie  had  cut  a  stout 
hickory  stick  in  the  wood  above  and  sharpened  one 
end.  The  improvised  "jimmy"  worked  well.  After 
some  preliminary  probing  about  the  edges  of  the  stone, 
he  drove  the  sharp  end  of  the  stick  into  a  crevice,  bore 
heavily  downward,  and  then  outward,  and  felt  the  ob 
struction  yield. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Stooping  to  the  aperture  yawning  like  a  black  mouth 
iu  the  bank,  he  was  met  by  a  rush  of  cooler  air, 
freighted  with  an  odor  that  let  the  truth  in  upon  him 
in  a  Hash. 

Tobacco  at  that  date  was  subject  to  a  duty  of  a  penny 
per  pound  in  English  ports,  and  there  was  hardly  an 
inlet  or  bay  or  river  on  the  Atlantic  coast  that  was  not 
infested  by  smuggling-craft,  hovering,  like  prey-seeking 
birds,  along  the  edge  of  the  richest  plantations.  The 
Westover  overseer,  Booker,  bore  an  excellent  reputation 
for  honesty,  but  to  him  had  never  been  entrusted  the 
duty  of  making  up  the  tale  of  bales  and  hogsheads  of 
tobacco  for  shipment.  Mr.  Bass,  as  major-domo  and 
confidential  agent,  inspected  barn  and  warehouse,  and 
kept  account  of  the  contents  of  each.  If  the  Colonel's 
frequent  and  prolonged  absences  rendered  peculation 
easy,  despite  his  astuteness,  his  brother-planters  con 
gratulated  him  upon  the  incorruptible  integrity  of  the 
manager  that  secured  him  against  such  losses.  Bass's 
opportunities  were  many  and  tempting,  but  the  most 
envious  of  his  critics  had  never  breathed  upon  his 
honesty  in  business  dealings. 

Caliban  would  as  soon  have  been  without  his  trustv 
clasp-knife  as  without  tinder-box  and  steel.  In  the 
box  was,  also,  a  bit  of  wax  c;u:dle.  Feeling  his  way 
into  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  he  struck  a  light.  He  was 

/  o 

in  an  arched  tunnel  of  brick  masonry,  paved  with  flag 
stones,  in  which  he  could  not  stand  upright.  Bales, 
boxes,  and  casks  were  piled  against  the  sides.  All,  he 
was  certain,  contained  tobacco,  until  he  shook  a  barrel, 
and  heard  the  wabble  of  liquid  within.  He  brought 
the  candle  nearer  to  examine  the  head. 


190  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

"Some  nigger gwine  ter  be  skin'  when  dat  brandy  is 
miss' !"  he  grinned. 

The  humor  of  the  situation  touched  him,  serious  as 
he  felt  it  to  be.  Just  inside  of  the  opening  lay  a  cask, 
the  make  of  which  he  knew  full  well.  The  Byrd  eoat- 
of-arms  was  branded  deep  in  the  head  of  every  hogs 
head,  barrel,  keg,  and  box  that  left  the  plantation. 
This  one  had  evidently  been  brought  ashore  that  night 
by  Bass  and  his  confederate. 

Caliban's  tough    muscles   wrought   toilfully  at   the 

~  V 

prostrate  stone  before  he  could  refit  it  into  place.  The 
rest  was  more  easily  done  ;  but  the  moon  was  in  the 
zenith  when  he  regained  his  perch.  He  was  tired 
almost  to  death,  yet  too  excited  to  seek  rest  in  sleep, 
sat,  elbows  on  knees  and  head  in  hands,  doing  the 
severest  thinking  that  had  ever  vexed  his  busy  brains. 

The  triumphant  impulse  to  denounce  his  enemy  to 
the  master  who  trusted  him  died  down  under  a  wither 
ing  breeze  of  common  sense. 

The  goods  would  be  saved  to  their  various  owners, 
for  he  at  once  connected  the  hidden  store  with  com 
plaints  of  mysterious  thefts  up  and  down  the  river  he 
had  heard  of  in  house  and  kitchen.  But  who  would 
believe  his  story  of  the  midnight  adventure  and  identi 
fication  of  one  of  the  criminals?  He  had  not  seen 
Bass's  face,  and  against  the  inevitable  denial  of  the 
latter  what  weight  would  the  word  of  a  slave  have, 
especially  when  his  reasons  for  desiring  to  injure  the 
secretary  were  taken  into  account?  He  must  wait  for 
more  conclusive  evidence  ;  must  dog  and  pry  and  skulk 
with  the  patient  ferocity  of  his  forebears,  until  the  night 
named  as  the  time  for  removing  the  plunder.  Even 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  191 

then,  Bass  might  not  be  among  those  caught  in  the  act 
by  Colonel  Byrd  and  such  associates  as  he  might  sum 
mon  to  his  aid.  The  fellow  had  the  cunning  of  the 
devil. 

The  problem  was  still  unsolved  when  the  red  sun 
pierced  the  river-fog  to  his  head  frosted  with  rime, 
bowed  upon  the  knees  where  it  had  lain  for  four  hours 
in  the  dead  sleep  of  utter  exhaustion. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE  great  event  of  the  month  came  to  "Westover  on 
the  morrow, — the  arrival  of  the  foreign  mail.  There 
was  a  package  of  books  for  Evelyn  ;  for  Madam  Byrd, 
four  or  five  gossipy  missives  from  English  corre 
spondents,  and  two  or  three  notes  from  tradespeople  ; 
and  for  the  Colonel,  a  bulky  parcel  of  letters  and 
papers. 

He  undid  the  seals  in  his  study,  seated  in  an  arm 
chair  beside  the  escritoire  in  the  chimney  recess.  The 
light  fell  clearly  over  his  left  shoulder;  his  snuff-box 
was  open  near  his  right  hand ;  his  epistles  were  volu 
minous,  and,  in  the  main,  interesting  ;  replete  with  inci 
dents  of  court  and  political  and  literary  life,  and  seasoned 
— some  of  them — with  racy  items  and  Equivoques.  The 
reader  of  to-day  would  peruse  these  last  with  less  gusto 
than  was  apparent  in  the  handsome  visage  that  lent 
diligent  heed  to  every  line.  lie  laughed  now  and 
then,  low  and  musically,  over  some  particularly  highly- 
flavored  passage,  or  murmured  inaudible  comments. 


192  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

The  secretary  had  hitched  his  chair  to  the  other  side 
of  the  table  as  his  superior  established  himself  in  his 
corner.  It  was  not  respectful  to  sit  with  his  back  to 
his  employer,  and  Colin  never  abated  one  jot  or  one 
tittle  of  the  obsequiousness  due  to  the  potentate.  Should 
the  examination  of  the  mail  leave  the  Colonel  in  a  fair 
humor,  he  would  give  a  digest  to  his  subordinate  of 
whatsoever  it  suited  him  to  impart  to  other  ears.  It 
was  by  such  advantages  that  the  man's  education  was 
carried  on  in  whatever  pertained  to  Old  World  affairs, 
social  or  public.  The  Colonel  was  a  raconteur  of  rare 
ability,  and  the  auditor  considered,  with  reason,  mail- 
day  a  genuine  treat  in  his  sober-hued  life.  After  the 
entertaining  abstract  of  the  world's  news,  the  plantation 
ledgers,  of  which  a  pile  lay  on  the  secretary's  table, 
would  be  overhauled,  every  entry  of  expenditure  and 
receipt  inspected,  account  of  stock  taken,  and  balances 
compared  by  one  whom  his  tombstone  avers  to  have 
been  "the  splendid  economist." 

The  book-keeper  had  nothing  to  dread  from  the 
rehearsal  of  his  stewardship  during  the  month  of  the 
master's  absence.  Not  one  figure  would  give  the  lie  to 
another;  conscious  rectitude,  from  her  throne  within 
his  bosom,  courted  inquiry  and  snapped  clean  fingers  at 
audits.  Meanwhile  he  occupied  himself  with  the  Colo 
nel's  pet  volume  of  MSS.  The  chronicle  had  grown 
apace  since  the  author's  last  review  of  it.  The  heap 
of  disorderly  notes — creased,  blurred,  and  discolored — 
was  diminished  by  the  number  of  those  impaled  upon  a 
file  at  the  back  of  the  table,  and  many  pages  of  vellum 
were  covered  with  the  clerkly  characters  that,  over  a 
century  and  a  half  later,  command  our  admiration. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  193 

By  and  by,  when  time  and  proof  were  ripe,  and  his 
master's  mood  propitious,  the  scribe  might  have  some 
what  of  his  own  composition  and  collocation  to  submit 
to  the  august  judge.  The  anticipation  was  uppermost 
in  his  mind  as,  having  trimmed  and  nibbed  a  fresh 
pen,  he  stole  a  glance  at  the  seignior's  complacent  face, 
and  bethought  himself,  for  the  thousandth  and  first 
time,  of  the  iniquity  of  a  so-called  divine  government 
that  dealt  out  to  one  man  every  advantage  of  person, 
wealth,  station,  and  intellect  that  the  most  extravagant 
eighteenth  century  Alnaschar  could  covet,  and  left 
millions  of  the  same  race  to  work  for  daily  bread.  As 
mechanically  as  a  modern  calligraph,  he  wrote  the  next 
paragraph  : 

"  Thus,  in  what  part  of  the  Woods  soever  anything 
mischievous  or  troublesome  is  found,  kind  Providence 
is  sure  to  provide  a  Remedy.  And  'tis  probably  one 
great  reason  why  God  was  pleas'd  to  create  these,  and 
many  other  vexatious  Animals,  that  Men  should  exer 
cise  their  Arts  and  Industry  to  guard  themselves " 

The  obedient  pen  gave  a  little  astonished  jump,  and 
hung  above  the  page. 

From  the  lips  that  were,  just  now,  set  in  the  smile 
of  sunniest  content,  flew  forth  an  oath  so  gross  in  its 
profanity,  so  sounding,  so  deep,  and  so  fiery,  that  the 
hearer  doubted  his  own  faithful  ears.  Colonel  Byrd 
swore  upon  occasion,  devout  churchman  as  he  was. 
The  Father  of  his  country  sinned  along  the  same  line 
forty-five  years  thereafter.  But  the  companion  of  his 
least  guarded  moments  had  never,  until  now,  heard 
from  him  ful  mi  nation  like  this  that  set  a  tray  of  glasses 
upon  the  table  to  ringing,  and  made  the  moteful  stream 
in  17 


M* 

194  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

of   October    sunshine    flowing    through    the    windows 
vibrate.     True  to  his  phlegmatic  custom,  Bass  neither 
started  nor  looked  up.     After  that  one  little  leap,  the 
pen  resumed  its  steady  amble  : 
" against  them. 

"  Bears'  Qyl  is  used  by  the  Indians  as  a  General 
Defence  against  every  Species  of  Vermin.  Among 
the  rest,  they  say  it  keeps  both  Bugs  and  Musquetas 
from  assaulting  their  Persons  which  would  otherwise 
devour  Such  uncleanly  People." 

Between  two  sentences,  the  writer's  eyes  skirmished 
under  his  scant  eyelashes. 

The  Colonel  sat  as  still  as  a  stone,  one  palm  pressed 
flat  upon  the  open  sheet  spread  upon  the  desk,  the  other 
hand  a  tight  fist  upon  his  knee,  his  eyes  blazing  into 
vacancy.  His  lips  were  white,  and  the  contracting 
muscles  about  them  had  the  singular  effect  of  shallow 
ing  the  cleft  that  lent  a  voluptuous  cast  to  the  lower 
part  of  his  face. 

"  Yet  Bears'  Grease  has  no  Strong  Smell,  as  that 
plant  had  which  the  Egyptians  formerly  used  against 
musquetas,  resembling  our  pal  ma  Christi,  the  juice  of 
which  smelled  so  disagreeably  that  the  Remedy  was 
worse  than  the  Disease." 

"  Mr.  Bass  !" 

The  summons  was  in  the  Colonel's  gentlest  voice, — 

"  May  I  trouble  you  to  order  Pluto  to  be  saddled 
and  brought  around  ?" 

Pluto,  the  wickedest  thing  in  the  Westover  stables, 
was  made  ready  by  three  grooms  with  celerity  incon 
ceivable  by  one  familiar  with  his  playful  manoeuvres 
of  kicking,  biting,  and  rearing.  The  plantation  quaked 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  195 

to  a  man  when  the  Master  expressed  his  intention  of 
taking  the  air  upon  the  vicious  black,  and  all  who 
could  bear  a  hand  in  hurrying  horse  and  rider  off  the 
place,  sprang  frantically  to  the  task. 

Madam  Byrd,  up  to  her  eyes  in  cake-making,  espy 
ing  through  the  still-room  window,  her  lord,  booted 
and  spurred,  striding  down  to  the  monogram  gate,  and 
the  caparisoned  steed  plunging  until  he  lifted  two 
hostlers  off  their  feet  by  the  short  hold  they  had  of 
his  mouth, — was  of  one  mind  with  Isis  and  her  attend 
ants,  pressing  to  the  kitchen-door  to  peep  at  the  same 
actors  : 

"  Lord -a-m ussy !  Dar's  de  mischief  to  pay  when 
Marster  fling  he  laig  ober  dat  Plutto !  I  hope  ter 
gracious  de  pa'r  on  'em  '11  shake  de  debbil  offen  de 
crooper  'fo'  dey  show  dey  faces  hyur  agin  !" 

The  secretary  sat  between  the  open  vellum  leaves, 
when  Madam  sailed  in,  her  fair  face  clouded,  her  key- 
basket  jingling  with  trepidation. 

"  Had  Colonel  Byrd  bad  news  in  his  letters  ?  Or,  is 
there  somewhat  wrong  with  the  accounts,  that  he  is  so 
upset !" 

"  Madam  ?"  The  secretary  had  arisen  ;  his  face  was 
an  innocent  blank.  "  Colonel  Byrd  said  naught  to 
me  of  information  received,  whether  good  or  ill." 

"How  excessively  annoying!  I  shall  be  in  a 
tremble  until  ho  gets  back.  If  he  ever  does!  I 
never  see  him  mount  that  imp  of  darkness — whose 
very  name  makes  a  Christian  shudder — that  I  don't 
look  to  see  him  brought  home  with  his  brains  knocked 
out.  I  protest  I  shall  have  no  nerves  left  if  this  sort 
of  thing  goes  on  from  day  to  day.  After  such  a  peace- 


196  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

ful  four  weeks  as  we  have  enjoyed,  these  scurries  and 
hurries  and  worries  wear  me  clean  out.  Where  is  the 
Colonel's  mail  ?" 

"  I  presume  that  he  put  it  away,  Madam,  before  going 
out.  It  was  not  to  be  seen  when  I  returned  from  order 
ing  his  horse." 

"  And  locked  it  up,  I  declare  !"  trying  the  desk- 
lid.  "  I  must  own  that  looks  suspicious  when  the  only 
persons  likely  to  come  in  here  are  his  wife  and  his 
secretary  !  Had  I  but  a  key  that  would  open  this  desk,  I 
should  esteem  it  my  duty,  as  a  wife,  to  discover  what  has 
put  him  in  such  disorder.  A  woman  cannot  sympathize 
intelligently  with  her  husband  unless  she  has  a  clue  to 
his  perplexities.  But  that  is  not  what  I  am  here  to 
discourse  upon.  We  are  to  meet  the  Berkeley  folk  at 
tea  on  the  hill  this  afternoon.  Will  you  grve  orders  to 
the  carpenters  to  take  up  boards  and  trestles  for  a  new 
table  ?  The  old  one  is  rickety,  as  I  observed  when  we 
last  supped  there,  and  'tis  but  natural  I  should  be 
wishful  to  have  things  conformable  for  such  a  company 
as  we  are  to  sup  with  to-day.  Heigho!  this  house  is 
dull  as  Friday  in  Lent  with  all  of  them  gone  out 
of  it !" 

Colin  went  as  he  was  bidden,  and  willingly.  Madam's 
longing  for  intelligent  sympathy  in  her  lord's  worries 
did  not  exceed  that  of  his  faithful  major-domo,  but  he 
was  the  better  content  to  wait  for  satisfaction  of  the 
affectionate  craving,  since  a  key  in  his  waistcoat  pocket 
exactly  fitted  the  escritoire-lock,  and  he  would  have 
ample  opportunity  for  research  while  the  al  fresco 
entertainment  went  forward  under  the  trysting-tree. 

The  Colonel  had  not  returned  at  dinner-time,  and  his 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  J(J7 

wife's  appetite  was  but  indifferent  in  consequence.  The 
hall-clock  was  on  the  stroke  of  four  when  he  drew  rein 
at  the  iron  gate,  and  flung  the  bridle  to  a  triad  of  grooms 
who  ran  from  the  stable-yard  at  the  sound  of  hoofs. 
Pluto  was  drenched  with  sweat,  his  sooty  sides  criss 
crossed  by  welts;  his  mien  was  as  meek  as  that  of  a 
twenty-year-old  hack.  The  Master  stayed  to  give 
explicit  directions  as  to  the  mash  to  be  administered 
when  the  animal  was  cool ;  ordered  that  he  should  be 
well  rubbed  down  and  covered  without  delay,  and 
sauntered  up  the  walk,  snapping  his  whip  playfully  at 
a  collie-pup  that  gambolled  awkwardly  about  his  feet. 
Meeting  his  wife  in  the  hall,  ready  dressed  for  the 
sylvan  gathering,  he  kissed  her,  held  her  at  arms' 
length  to  survey  the  bravery  of  her  apparel ;  vowed 
that  she  would  eclipse  the  girls  and  bring  a  dozen  duels 
with  raging  admirers  upon  his  hands, — and  ran  up 
stairs  with  the  step  of  a  boy,  humming  a  popular  ballad 
in  a  round,  resonant  voice  a  young  man  might  envy. 

Evidently  he  and  Pluto,  between  them,  had  dislodged 
Satan  from  the  crupper.  The  one  had  suffered  loss  in 
the  achievement,  the  other  came  out  better  than  new. 

At  half-past  four  o'clock,  when  the  rural  fete  was  in 
full  progress,  the  Master  of  \Yestover,  arrayed  with  the 
elegant  precision  for  which  he  was  distinguished,  walked 
up  the  long  slope  capped  by  the  trysting-grove,  and 
halted  in  the  covert  of  a  clump  of  bushes  to  survey  the 
scene. 

The  table,  draped  in  spotless  damask,  was  encom 
passed  by  a  bevy  of  white-aproned  servitors,  Caliban, 
in  the  dual  role  of  Mercury  and  Ganymede,  flying 
between  the  board  and  the  hampers  collected  under  a 

17* 


198  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

branchy  oak.  Fifteen  yards  away,  upon  the  hill-brow 
overlooking  the  river,  the  company  for  whom  the  feast 
was  preparing  sat  upon  rustic  benches  and  lounged  on 
carpets  laid  over  the  sun-warmed  turf.  The  spectator 
quickly  singled  out  a  group,  withdrawn  a  little  from 
the  larger  assembly,  consisting  of  Lieutenant  Maynard, 
Martha  Jaqueline,  Mrs.  Carter,  with  Lady  Bess  playing 
at  her  feet,  Evelyn,  and  Mr.  Francis. 

"Madam  Carter  plays  propriety  prettily  for  a  young 
woman  with  charms  of  her  own!"  meditated  the  unseen 
looker-on,  drawing  out  his  inseparable  confidante,  and 
helping  himself  to  a  bountiful  pinch.  "Is  she  in  the 
plot,  I  wonder?  The  easier  question  to  answer  would 
be, '  who  is  not — except  myself.'  '  Lover  and  friend 
hast  thou  put  far  from  me,  and  my  acquaintance  into 
darkness  !'  "  he  repeated  aloud,  \vith  a  cynical  laugh. 

He  had  an  eye  for  scenic  effects,  and  tarried  a  de 
liberate  minute  to  possess  himself  of  the  best  points. 

The  weather  was  delicious  :  the  pure  October  sky  was 
flecked  with  a  few  pearly  cloudlets  sailing  westward  to 
curtain  the  day-god's  conch.  The  grove,  dashed  plen 
tifully  with  autumnal  gold,  purple,  and  scarlet,  was 
merry  with  the  voices  of  children  playing  hide-and- 
seek  in  the  outlying  thickets  ;  about  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harrison  was  collected  a  body  of  guests,  mostly  young 
people;  Hannah  Harrison  and  Mr.  Fontaine  talked 
together,  seated  upon  a  fallen  tree;  the  fair  raiment  of 
the  women  and  the  more  gayly-colored  garb  of  their 
beaux  lent  animation  to  the  pastoral  beauty  of  the 
picture. 

"  I  longed,  in  despair,  for  Watteau's  pencil  and  a 
blank  fan  !"  Colonel  Bvrd  declared  to  Mrs.  Harrison 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  199 

after  bowing  his  greetings  to  the  company  at  large. 
"  I  stood  behind  my  leafy  screen  half  an  hour,  lost  in 
admiration  of  the  tableau.  It  was  a  human  orrery, 
with  yourself  as  central  orb,  planets  and  satellites 
ringed  about  you,  and  the  children  enacting  comets  and 
asteroids." 

He  was  never  in  blither  rnood  ;  never  more  impartial 
in  the  distribution  of  attentions  that  were  subtlest  flat 
tery,  but  not  until  supper  was  handed  by  the  servants 
and  the  younger  gentlemen  to  the  sitting  groups,  did 
he  approach  that  of  which  Martha  Jaqueline  and  his 
daughter  formed  a  part.  The  Berkeley  host  had  joined 
himself  to  them,  also,  and  as  the  Colonel  took  a  tall 
stool  before  Mrs.  Carter,  a  position  in  which  he  faced 
the  party,  Mr.  Harrison  was  anathematizing  a  grum 
bling  tooth  that  had  kept  him  awake  the  night  before, 
and  regretting  that  there  was  no  dentist  nearer  than 
Williamsburg. 

"  There  should  be  one  upon  each  plantation,  as  we 
keep  our  carpenter  and  blacksmith  and  shoemaker,"  he 
said.  "  He  would  be  kept  in  practice  if  the  teeth  of  the 
white  family  and  the  negroes  were  properly  looked 
after." 

"  Allow  me  to  show  you  a  more  excellent  way,"  said 
the  Colonel,  gravely,  "  and  one  which  can  be  carried 
out  with  infinitely  less  thought  and  expense.  Upon 
one  of  my  journeys  inland,  I  was  greatly  afflicted  with 
an  impertinent  tooth  in  my  upper  jaw  that  made  me 
chew  with  great  caution.  We  had  little  else  but  bis 
cuits  to  eat  for  days  at  a  time,  and  I  could  not  grind 
a  biscuit  in  these  circumstances  but  with  much  deliber 
ation  and  presence  of  mind.  I  got  rid  of  this  trouble- 


200  MS   GREAT  SELF. 

some  companion  by  cutting  a  caper.  Fastening  a  twine, 
about  a  fathom  in  length,  to  the  root  of  my  tooth,  I  tied 
the  other  end  to  the  snag  of  a  log  that  lay  upon  the 
ground  in  .-uch  a  manner  that  I  could  just  stand  upright. 
Having  adjusted  my  string,  I  bent  my  knees  enough  to 
enable  me  to  spring  vigorously  off  the  ground  as  per 
pendicularly  as  I  could.  The  force  of  the  leap  drew 
out  the  tooth  with  so  much  ease  that  I  felt  nothing 
of  it." 

"But  mine  is  in  the  lower  jaw!"  Mr.  Harrison 
objected,  laughing. 

"  In  that  case,  you  should  stand  on  your  head  and 
execute  a  somersault,"  said  Martha  Jaqueliue. 

"  Not  at  all !"  the  Colonel  answered,  with  immovable 
seriousness.  "  An  under-tooth  may  be  fetched  out  by 
standing  off  the  ground  and  fastening  your  string  at 
due  distance  above  you.  And,  having  so  fixed  your 
gear,  jump  off  your  standing,  and  the  weight  of  your 
body,  added  to  the  force  of  the  spring,  will  pry  out 
your  tooth  with  less  pain  than  any  operator  upon  earth 
could  draw  it." 

He  broke  off  upon  perceiving  that  Lady  Bess,  lean 
ing  against  her  mother's  knee,  open-eyed  and  open- 
mouthed,  had  inserted  a  thumb  and  forefinger  between 
her  jaws  and  was  working  at  one  of  her  seed-pearls  of 
teeth.  He  stooped  to  take  her  on  his  knee. 

"  Don't  borrow  trouble,  Fairy  !     Never  shake  a  tooth 

to  see  if  it  be  loose.     Be  sure  you  will  find  it  out  when 

if  •    i>j 
it  is  I 

"  A  good  practical  saw  !"  conceded  Martha.  "  The 
principle  which  is  at  the  root  of  it  is  a  tenet  in  my 
religion." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  201 

"  When  mankind  shall  carry  it  into  daily  practice, 
the  millennium  will  be  on  the  dawn,"  said  Francis's 
pleasant  voice. 

The  gnarled  root  of  a  tree,  cushioned  with  moss, 
was  his  seat.  Evelyn's  chair  was  close  by,  and  their 
low-voiced  chat  was  carried  on  under  cover  of  the 
general  conversation  until  Colonel  Byrd's  approach. 

"  He  who  dreads  death,  dies  twice,"  the  Englishman 
continued  in  the  same  easy,  moralizing  strain.  "  It 
may  be  decreed  that  a  man  is  to  die  by  lightning, 
'though  he  knows  it  not.  If  he  blench  and  cower  at 
every  flash,  he  perishes  not  once,  but  a  thousand  times, 
— nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  times  by  his  own 
appointment,  once  by  GOD'S." 

Mr.  Harrison's  shiver  was  real,  while  he  still 
laughed. 

"  If  you  knew  me  better,  Mr.  Francis,  I  should 
suspect  that  remark  to  be  aimed  at  me.  As  my  good 
friends  here  know,  the  fear  of  lightning  is  a  confirmed 
weakness  with  me.  I  query,  ofttimes,  if  the  cowardice 
be  not  premonition."  * 

"  There  is  no  such  thing  as  human  premonition," 
Colonel  Byrd  replied,  stroking  the  silken  head  resting 
confidingly  against  his  shoulder.  "  Auguries  were  the 
lies  of  the  pagans ;  presentiment  is  the  sentimental 
fancy  of  the  Christian  whose  vanity  predisposes  him 
to  imagine  that  the  Almighty  will  do  naught  without 
taking  him  into,  at  least,  partial  confidence.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Deity  would  seem,  generally,  to  treat  us 


*  He,  with  two  of  his  daughters,  was  killed  by  lightning  at 
Berkeley  twenty  years  afterward. 


202  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

as  do  false  friends  and  secret  foes, — beguile  us  with 
fairest  hopes  when  the  judgment  is  closest  at  hand. 

"Apropos  to  lightning,"  addressing  himself  to  the 
listening  circle,  "  the  most  amazing  instance  that  ever 
I  heard  of  happened  at  York,  a  little  while  ago.  The 
story  came  to  my  knowledge  only  last  week.  A  sliip- 
surgeon  had  come  ashore  to  visit  a  patient,  and  was 
walking  about  the  sick-room  when  there  came  a  dread 
ful  flash  of  lightning  that  struck  him  dead,  but  hurt  not 
the  patient  nor  any  other  person,  though  several  were 
near  him.  At  the  same  time  it  made  a  large  hole 
in  the  trunk  of  a  pine-tree  which  grew  about  ten  feet 
from  the  window.  But  what  was  most  surprising  in 
this  disaster  was,  that  on  the  breast  of  the  unfortunate 
man  that  was  killed  was  the  figure  of  a  pine-tree,  as 
exactly  delineated  as  any  limner  in  the  world  could 
draw  it.  Nay,  the  resemblance  went  so  far  as  to  rep 
resent  the  color  of  the  pine  as  well  as  the  figure.  The 
lightning  must  probably  have  passed  through  the  tree 
first  before  it  struck  the  man,  and  by  that  means  have 
printed  the  Icon  of  it  on  his  breast." 

Profound  silence  reigned  in  the  group  and  among 
others  who  were  near  enough  to  hear  the  anecdote. 
Evelyn  grew  terribly  pale,  and  her  eyes,  turning  ap- 
pealingly  to  her  lover,  saw  him  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross.  The  hope  that  the  rapid  motion  had  escaped  the 
notice  of  any  other  than  herself  was  dashed  by  hearing 
her  father  say,  in  bland  seriousness  : 

"  You  cross  yourself,  Mr.  Francis,  and  I,  from  my 
Protestant  soul,  respond,  'Amen  !'  '  From  battle,  mur 
der,  and  sudden  death,' — which  I  take  to  mean  a  violent 
taking  off, — '  Good  Lord,  deliver  us,'  one  and  all ! 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  203 

"Which  brings  to  my  mind  that  my  distinguished 
friend  Colonel  Spotswood  and  you  held  some  converse 
last  evening  relative  to  the  Indian  massacre  of  1622. 
He  gave  me  to  understand  afterward  that  the  dialogue 
broken  in  upon  by  my  irreverent  jest  pertained  to  that 
bloody  episode  in  the  history  of  these  colonies,  and  not 
to  the  battle  of  Blenheim," — laughing  lightly.  "  I 
only  judged  the  present  by  the  past  in  assuming  that  I 
was  your  benefactor, — not  an  interloper, — and  I  crave 
your  pardon,  as  I  entreated  his." 

"  We  had  passed  Blenheim  and  the  massacre,"  re 
plied  Francis,  catching  the  gayety  of  his  tone.  "  I 
had  just  made  bold  to  ask  the  particulars  of  the  ro 
mantic  expedition  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Horseshoe." 

"  I  withdraw  my  apology  on  the  spot,  and  reclaim 
the  meed  of  gratitude  !"  rising,  amid  the  shout  that 
greeted  the  sally.  "In  the  certainty  that  Blenheim 
and  Mount  George  left  no  time  in  which  to  do  justice 
to  the  massacre,  I  shall  take  pleasure,  if  these  fair 
despots  will  parole  us,  of  walking  with  you  to  a  spot 
whence  I  can  designate  to  you  the  route  taken  by  the 
savages  on  that  occasion.  Mistress  Martha  !  I  depute 
you  to  recall  us  and  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  cap 
tive  knight,  should  the  sanguinary  recital  threaten  to 
equal  in  length  the  storied  battles  of  the  Duke  of 
Marlborou«;h  !" 

o 

Francis  arose  with  alacrity  and  moved  away  with 
him  after  a  word  to  Evelyn,  a  bow  and  smile  for  the 
others.  All  heard  the  beginning  of  the  narrative  as  the 
two  strolled  toward  the  river: 

"  Westover,  at  that  time,  was  the  property  of  Master 


HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

George  Thorpe,  the  friend  of  Opechancanough,  who 
was  the  uncle  of  the  Lady  Pocahontas.  I  might  add 
that  Thorpe  was  the  friend  of  all  Indians.  He  was 
explicitly  warned  of  his  danger  by  an  Indian  squaw 
employed  in  his  family,  but  refused  to  credit  her  story 
or  distrust  his  Indian  allies, 

"  No,  Fairy  !"  to  the  child  who  escaped  from  her 
mother  and  chased  him  with  the  petition  that  she  might 
go  along, — "  we  are  talking  of  ugly  things  that  would 
frighten  little  ladies  out  of  their  small  wits.  Go  !  tell 
Caliban  that  Colonel  Byrd  sent  you  for  a  piece  of 
plum-cake  as  big  as  your  two  fists,  and  make  the  fists 
as  great  as  you  can ! 

"You  do  not  take  snuff,  Mr.  Francis?"  producing 
the  box  inscribed  to  the  memory  of  John  Gary  and 
Jacob  Dryden.  "  But  you  will  excuse  the  petty  vice 
in  one  who  cannot  tell  a  story  aright  without  this 
stimulus  to  memory  and  imagination." 

"  'Twould  argue  monstrous  arrogance  in  me  to  call 
it  a  vice  of  any  dimensions  whatsoever,  sir !" 

The  young  man,  accommodating  his  bounding  step 
to  his  companion's  stately  gait,  looked  happy  and  spoke 
brightly.  He  felt  that  he  gained  ground  hourly  in 
the  esteem  of  the  man  whom  he  wished  above  al'l 
others  to  win. 

"  I  thank  you  for  a  graceful  and  a  gracious  consent !" 
He  regaled  a  nose  classic  in  outline  with  the  aromatic 
dust,  while  they  sauntered  forward.  "  We  waste  pity, 
after  all,  upon  those  who  met  a  speedy  fate  from  the 
tomahawk.  The  prisoners  taken  alive  merited  more 
compassion.  They  were  put  to  death — nay  !  they  are 
put  to  death  at  this  day  with  all  the  tortures  that  in- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  205 

genious  malice  and  cruelty  can  invent.  And  (what 
shows  the  baseness  of  the  Indian  temper  in  perfection) 
they  never  fail  to  treat  those  with  the  greatest  inhu 
manity  that  have  distinguished  themselves  most  by 
their  bravery.  If  he  be  a  war-captain,  they  do  him  the 
honor  to  roast  him  alive,  and  distribute  a  collop  or 
two  to  all  that  had  a  share  in  stealing  the  victory." 

"  Yet  the  parent  government  would  legislate  for  the 
protection  of  these  fiends  !"  ejaculated  Francis.  "  They 
should  the  rather  be  extirpated  like  wolves  and  ser 
pents  !" 

"  There  spake  the  intolerance  of  youth  !"  punctuating 
the  phrases  by  application  to  his  "  stimulus."  "  Dare 
classical  scholars  reproach  the  poor  Indians  for  this 
when  Homer  makes  Achilles  drag  the  body  of  Hector 
at  the  tail  of  his  chariot  for  having  fought  gallantly  in 
defence  of  his  country  ?  Was  Alexander  the  Great, 
with  all  his  famed  generosity,  less  inhuman  to  the  brave 
Tyrians,  two  thousand  of  whom  he  ordered  to  be  cruci 
fied  in  cold  blood,  for  no  other  fault  but  for  having 
defended  their  city  most  courageously  against  him 
during  a  siege  of  seven  months?  And  I  should  add 
that  the  braves  on  both  sides  perfectly  comprehend  what 
seems  to  us  monstrous  cruelty.  If  the  victim  belong 
to  a  hostile  tribe,  he  makes  it  a  point  of  honor  all  the 
time  to  look  as  pleased  as  if  he  were  in  the  actual 
enjoyment  of  some  delight,  and  if  he  never  sang  before 
in  his  life  he  is  sure  to  be  melodious  on  this  sad  and 
dismal  occasion. 

"  We  are  now" — halting  unexpectedly  and  wheeling 
full  upon  his  companion,  but  with  unaltered  face  and 
accent — "  beyond  the  boundary-line  of  Westover,  and 

18 


206  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

standing  \vithin  the  limits  of  Berkeley.  Upon  Mr. 
Harrison's  ground,  I  may  demand  of  my  Lord  Peter 
borough  the  motive  and  end  of  this  scoundrelly  mas 
querade  !" 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE  one  ill-advised  word  in  the  sentence  that  fell,  a 
blinding  blow,  upon  the  auditor,  was  the  penultimate. 
It  stung  like  the  whip  of  hail  across  the  face,  and 
aroused  all  the  patrician  within  him.  The  hurried 
breath  of  utter  astonishment  had  not  passed  his  lips 
when  he  was  outwardly  as  self-possessed  as  his  inter 
locutor. 

"  We  will  not  quarrel  as  to  words,  Colonel  Byrd, 
when  so  much  weightier  matters  claim  attention.  Else 
I  should  resent  the  epithet  you  have  chosen  to  apply  to 
my  presence  here  and  thus.  You  have  asked  a  ques 
tion  for  which  I  had  not  intended  to  wait.  It  was  my 
declared  purpose  to  seek  you  in  your  own  house  to 
night,  and  to  state  boldly  why  I  have  crossed  the 
Atlantic,  and  why  visited  Virginia " 

"  Under  an  assumed  name  !  Excuse  the  interruption, 
but  I  must,  perforce,  remind  you  that  between  gentle 
men  certain  irregularities  are  difficult  of  explanation. 
Sailino-  under  false  colors  is  one  of  these." 

o 

"  The  name  is  mine  V  imperturbable  as  stone. 
Native  courage,  race-tradition,  the  tenets  and  customs 
of  courts  panoplied  him  in  triple  mail.  He  even 
smiled  faintly  with  a  fine,  cool  disregard  of  the  conse- 


HIS  ORE  AT  SELF.  207 

quences  of  action  and  word  that  compelled  the  other  to 
.a  degree  of  respect.  "  My  godfathers  and  godmothers 
in  baptism  called  me 'Charles  Francis.'  The  second 
name,  coining  from  my  mother's  family,  was  dropped 
from  daily  use.  The  first  was  borne  by  my  grandfather, 
my  father,  and  myself.  I  am  an  honest  man,  Colonel 
Byrd,  who  wrote  to  you  six  years  ago,  expressing  an 
honest  love  for  your  daughter " 

"  If  you  please,  we  will  leave  her  out  of  a  discussion 
that  may  grow  warmer  than  should  such  debates  as  men 
of  honor  and  delicacy  are  willing  to  hold  concerning 
their  wives  and  daughters.  I  may  be  willing  to  accept 
the  tale  told  by  Lord  Peterborough  of  the  voyage  to, 
and  travels  incognito  in  a  barbarous  country.  Young 
men  of  quality  and  fortune  have  a  right  to  their  vaga 
ries.  I,  as  a  humble  householder  and  a  parent,  have  a 
right  to  defend  home  and  child  from  the  possible  conse 
quences  of  these  vagaries." 

A  light  flush  wavered  to  the  young  nobleman's  fore 
head,  but  he  evinced  emotion  in  no  other  way. 

"  Yourself  must  know,  Colonel  Byrd — no  man  better 
— how  preposterous  is  the  suspicion  that  aught  I  could 
do  or  say  could  react  unfavorably  upon  her  whom  I 
honor  most  of  created  things.  You  forbade  me  to  see 
or  write  to  her  again  in  the  letter  which  was  the  only 
sign  you  vouchsafed  that  my  passionate  appeals  had 
reached  you.  You  told  me  that  you  would  not  give 
your  daughter  in  marriage  to  a  Catholic " 

"  Unless  you  object,  I  prefer,  as  more  just,  the  term 
Roman  Catholic  !"  interjected  the  Colonel,  in  punctilious 
parenthesis. 

"  As  you  like  !    When  I  returned  from  the  Continent 


208  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

in  haste  on  hearing  that  you  were  in  London,  I  found  that 
you  had  taken  your  daughter  and  departed,  none  knew 
whither.  I  had  said  to  her  at  our  last  interview  that 
naught  in  the  power  of  man  or  fate  should  separate  us 
for  aye.  My  grandfather  admired  Miss  Byrd,  as  did 
all  who  had  the  honor  to  meet  and  know  her.  Yet  he 
opposed  my  suit  as  strenuously  as  yourself,  being  bent 
upon  my  union  with  an  English  lady  of  his  selection. 
I  had  but  one  answer  for  him  and  for  you.  I  was  not 
my  own  master,  but  dependent  upon  my  grandfather  for 
the  bread  I  ate.  I  determined  to  carve  out  my  fortune 
with  my  sword,  and  declared  my  purpose  to  him.  Had 
Miss  Byrd  been  willing  to  brave  your  displeasure,  to 
fly  in  the  face  of  your  prohibition,  I  had  never  let  her 
return  to  America. 

"You  know  the  rest.  I  haye,  in  all  my  life,  loved 
but  one  woman.  Even  after  my  grandfather's  death 
made  me  the  possessor  of  his  title  and  nominal  heir  to 
his  fortune,  there  were  vexatious  delays  in  the  matter 
of  legal  adjustments  that  seemed  endless  to  me.  I  never 
swerved,  for  one  minute,  from  my  intention  to  cross  the 
sea  and  throw  myself  at  her  feet,  so  soon  as  I  was  free 
to  do  so.  I  have  waited  almost  seven  years  for  her.  I 
shall  wait  for  her  while  we  both  live." 

"And  her  reply  to  the  paladin  who  chose  postern  and 
pass-key  instead  of  trumpet  and  drawbridge  ?" 

The  cutting  sarcasm  fell  blunted  against  the  mailed 
breast  of  the  younger  man. 

"You  have  been,  in  your  time,  courtier  and  soldier, 
Colonel  Byrd.  It  should  be  needless  to  represent  to 
you  the  expediency  of  extraordinary  measures  when 
Necessity  holds  the  whip — measures  that  would  seem 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  209 

unjustifiable  in  ordinary  circumstances.  Had  I  pre 
sented  myself  at  your  door  under  my  new  title,  I  should 
Lave  been  coldly  received  ;  probably  been  denied  speech 
of  Miss  Byrd, — or  I  should  have  owed  more  agreeable 
treatment  to  the  fact  that  Lord  Peterborough,  and  not 
Charles  Mo rd aunt,  sued  for  hospitality.  I  am  still 
young  and  romantic  enough  to  wish  to  make  my  way 
to  your  good  graces  and  to  those  of  Madam,  your  ad 
mirable  wife,  as  a  man,  a  commoner, — yet  a  gentleman, 
— who  claimed  no  advantage  from  extraneous  circum- 

o 

stance.  I  acknowledge  that  such  design  was  not  in 
my  mind  when  I  left  England.  My  one  thought  was 
to  seek,  to  win,  and  to  wed  the  bride  to  whom  I  had 
remained  so  long  constant.  That  which  commended 
itself  to  me  as  the  worthier  scheme  was  conceived  upon 
the  voyage.  I  said,  ( I  will  not  court  favor  for  rank 
and  wealth,  or  risk  disfavor  on  account  of  the  past.'" 

"  A  scheme  so  clever  betrays  a  shrewd  wit  and  a  deli 
cate,"  observed  the  listener.  "  I  should  be  at  no  loss 
to  detect  the  workmanship,  even  had  I  not  known  who 
was  your  fellow-passenger.  '  The  woman  tempted  me  !' 
Your  excuse  is  as  old  as  Eden.  One  instant,  if  you 
please  !"  as  a  gesture  threatened  interruption.  "  Had  I 
been  conversant  with  none  of  these  evidences  of  femi 
nine  complicity,  my  ingenious  friend,  Mistress  Martha, 
has  put  a  clue  into  my  hands  by  a  winsome  special  plea 
entered  yesterday  for  the  suitor  who  should  present 
himself  to  me,  bearing  her  signet.  She  stipulated  that 
he  should  be  heard  for  his  suit's  sake,  and  not  be  pre 
judged  by  favor  or  disfavor, — the  very  phrase  you  have 
just  employed.  I  engaged  to  give  her  hypothetical 
wooer  candid  audience.  Albeit  not  so  nominated  in 
o  18* 


210  HI*   GREAT  SELF. 

the  bond  in  the  present  showing,  I  do  not  withhold  it. 
To  a  rude  colonist  who  has  tried  to  bring  up  his  family 
to  fear  GOD,  to  honor  the  king  and  to  speak  the  truth, 
that  section  of  your  romance  that  has  to  do  with  the 
imposition  upon  a  confiding  household  of  another 
woman's  lover  as  her  very  own  will  require  even  more 
than  feminine  casuistry  to  justify  it." 

The  blue  eyes  kindled  under  the  sneer;  reply  trode 
hastily  upon  charge,  yet  mien  and  language  were  tem 
perate. 

"  You  leave  out  of  sight  the  circumstance  that  my 
original  intention  was  to  become  the  guest  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Harrison.  That,  not  until  we  were  abreast  of 
the  Westover  wharf  on  our  way  to  Berkeley,  were  we 
aware  of  the  change  in  our  plans  consequent  upon  Mr. 
Harrison's  sudden  seizure.  As  Mr.  Francis,  Mrs. 
Jaqueline's  guest  and  the  invited  guest  of  Berkeley,  I 
had  been  announced.  As  such  I  must  accept  the 
generous  hospitality  tendered  by  Mrs.  Byrd  as  the 
representative  of  her  afflicted  friends, — or  return  churl 
ishly  to  Jamestown,  foiled  of  my  purpose.  Miss  Byrd 
was  upon  the  wharf  when  the  sloop  touched  at  West- 
over.  I  could  not  go  back  !" 

The  brief  last  sentence  escaped  against  his  will. 
Having  uttered  it,  he  turned  half-avvay,  looking,  by 
chance,  toward  Westover  and  the  trysting-grove.  Above 
intervening  trees  towered  the  windowed  roof  and  the 

o 

tall  chimneys  of  the  homestead  ;  between  clumps  of 
shrubs  he  had  glimpses  of  fluttering  robes  and  lounging 
figures.  The  children  had  been  sent  home  after  supper, 
and  only  the  low  pulse  of  cheerful  talk,  and  now  and 
then  a  happy  laugh,  stirred  the  sunset  stillness. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  211 

In  this  fateful  moment,  by  a  caprice  of  mental  action, 
recurred  to  him  the  tale  of  the  Icon  painted  by  the 
death -flash  upon  the  victim's  breast.  Would  he  carry 
the  fair  picture  he  gazed  upon  always  upon  the  inner 
chamber  of  his  imagery  ? 

For  he  knew  already  what  was  before  him  ;  that  not 
one  plea  of  his  defence  had  availed  against  the  deter 
minate  will  of  the  man  who  feigned  to  balance  the  scales 
of  rightful  judgment  in  untrembling  hands ;  the  inex 
orable  will  that  had  never  wavered  in  six  years'  obser 
vation  of  his  daughter's  patient  pain  ;  that  had  brought 
to  this  interview  a  purpose  as  calm  as  the  October 
heavens,  as  resistless  as  the  roll  of  the  mighty  river  to 
the  ocean. 

Colonel  Byrd  filliped  from  his  finger-tips  a  half- 
pinch  of  snuff  with  the  smile  of  one  self-remindful  of 
a  matter  overlooked  in  more  important  counsels : 

"  We  are  forgetting  the  probability  that  your  charm 
ing  Portia,  who  has  honored  my  daughter  by  standing 
proxy  for  her  comparatively- insignificant  self,  may  use 
the  authority  vested  in  her  to  end  our  talk  should  the 
time  of  your  absence — I  dare  not  say  mine — appear 
tedious. 

"  Your  fence  is  passably  good,  my  lord.  Had 
Providence  called  you  to  the  bar,  you  would  have 
established  a  reputation  as  special  pleader.  To  save 
time — precious  by  reason  of  the  probability  I  have 
hinted  at — we  will  break  the  buttons  from  our  foils  and 
make  a  sharp  end  of  the  bout.  Your  grandfather,  the 
late  Lord  Peterborough" — lifting  his  hat  in  grave 
respect — "  was  the  Adonis,  the  Crichton,  the  Rabelais 
of  his  day,  which  was,  by  the  ordinance  of  inscrutable 


212  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Heaven,  a  long  one.  My  personal  relations  with  his 
lordship  were  cordial.  He  was  a  man  of  the  world, 
and  we  understood  one  another. 

"  Your  father" — this  time  he  did  not  raise  his  hat — 
"  was — your  father !  This  circumstance,  albeit  one  over 
which  you  had  no  control,  would  seal  my  lips  had  the 
plea  that  replied  to  your  former  suit  of  Miss  Byrd 
availed  to  abate  your  pretensions.  I  spoke  truly  in 
alleging  ray  insurmountable  objection  to  the  union  of 
any  member  of  my  family  with  one  belonging  to  your 
communion.  A  distaste  and  a  dread  of  Popery  runs 
with  my  blood  through  my  veins.  I  am  frank  with 
you  in  this,  my  lord,  as  I  purpose  to  be  in  what 
is  to  follow.  Had  my  daughter  trampled  upon  the 
prohibition  based  on  this  ground,  she  would  never 
have  seen  niy  face  again,  and  thus  I  assured  her  in  so 
many  words.  A  Protestant  young  woman  who  has 
been  properly  nurtured,  thinks — not  twice,  but  twice 
two  hundred  times — before  she  braves  the  paternal 
curse." 

"  If  causeless  ?  Surely  in  this  day  of  general  toler 
ation  of  religious  opinion  and  faith,  one  may  come  to 
view  such  differences  as  of  less  importance  than  when 
the  safety  of  a  nation  was  believed  to  depend  upon  the 
precise  shade  of  a  sovereign's  belief." 

"You  would  add,  in  court  parlance,  ' Nous  avons 
chang&  tout  cela  /'  I  take  leave  to  differ  from  you  there ; 
but  concert  or  variance  of  sentiment  on  this  point  hap 
pens  to  be  of  slight  moment  in  the  present  instance. 
Your  father,  the  Honorable  Charles  Mordaunt — recol 
lect  that  I  am  driven  to  say  it,  Lord  Peterborough ! — 
was  my  mortal  enemy,  and  I,  his  !  I  bear  in  my  sword- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  213 

arm  the  scar  of  a  thrust  dealt  in  the  desperation  of  what 
his  second  and  mine  believed  to  be  his  death-agony. 
He  recovered,  and  the  duel  was  kept  from  public 
knowledge.  We  never  met  again,  but  I  know  that  to 
his  death  he  remained  my  implacable  foe.  I  am  con 
fident  of  this,  if  for  no  better  reason,  because  I  would 
sooner  slay  my  fair  and  well-beloved  daughter  with  my 
own  hands  than  give  her  into  the  arms  of  his  sou.  You 
resemble  him  so  strongly  in  person  that  I  might  earlier 
have  penetrated  the  secret  of  your  incognito  but  for  the 
dust  cast  into  my  eyes  by  ingenious  Mistress  Martha 
Jaqueline.  You  may  be  as  unlike  him  in  heart  and 
soul  as  Ithuriel  to  Satan,  but  his  blood,  his  name,  and 
his  face  are  yours.  This  is  my  answer.  I  can  have 
none  other  to  give  in  six  years  more,  or  in  six-and- 
twenty,  should  my  disembodied  spirit  be  then  invoked. 
Shall  we  rejoin  our  friends?" 

"  One  moment  !"  said  Lord  Peterborough,  his  voice 
no  longer  firm  and  full.  "  Your  disclosure  has  shocked 
me  unspeakably.  My  father,  as  you  know,  died  when 
I  was  but  a  child,  but  I  find  it  difficult  to  credit  that 
he  carried  to  the  grave  the  resentful  memory  of  a  youth 
ful  quarrel " 

"  And — your  hesitation  would  signify — greater  diffi 
culty  in  comprehending  how  I,  at  my  age,  can  hate  a 
dead  man  in  his  tomb" — never  a  symptom  of  anger  in 
accent  or  visage.  "Mutual  comprehension  upon  this 
topic  being  manifestly  impracticable,  we  will  receive 
facts  as  they  are  and  close  the  argument.  Your  pref 
erence  would  be,  I  presume,  that  the  unfortunate  affair 
be  brought  to  a  termination  without  more  tittle-tattle 
than  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  happiness  of  the 


214  HIS   GEE  AT  SELF. 

divine  creatures  who  compound  gossip  for  the  polite 
world. 

"  If,  as  I  choose  to  take  for  granted  in  consideration 
of  the  amicable  relations  that  have  long  existed  between 
Berkeley  and  Westover,  your  present  hosts  are  as  pro 
foundly  ignorant  of  the  lineage  and  title  of  the  stranger 
under  their  roof  as  were  Mrs.  Byrd  and  myself  when 
you  were  at  Westover, — the  rest  will  follow  easily.  I 
would,  likewise,  believe  that  the  widow  of  my  revered 
friend,  Edward  Jaqueline,  is  not  a  conspirator  with  her 
volatile  daughter.  The  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  the 
case  being  thus  confined  to  four  people,  your  exit  from 
a  neighborhood  where,  I  regret  to  say,  you  can  no  longer 
be  comfortable — or  welcome" — dwelling  blandly  upon 
the  emphatic  words — "  can  be  easily  effected.  You  may 
rely  upon  me  to  use  my  best  endeavors  to  accomplish  an 
end  so  eminently  desirable  for  all  concerned." 

He  had  taken  a  dozen  steps  toward  the  trysting- 
ground  when  he  was  overtaken  by  hastier  feet.  The 
resemblance  to  the  man  he  had  tried  to  kill  more  than 
a  quarter-century  before,  was  so  marked  in  the  son's 
face  that  the  Virginian  grasped  his  cane  with  a  darting 
thrill. of  the  old  murderous  desire. 

"No  degree  of  insult,  overt  or  covert,  can  hurry  me 
into  forgetting  that  you  are  by  many  years  my  senior, 
and  the  father  of  the  woman  I  love  and  intend  to 
marry — aye  !  though  she  were  hedged  about  by  a 
thousand  devils !"  said  the  young  man,  arresting  him 
authoritatively. 

"  Pla«;iaristic  of  Martin   Luther!"  commented  the 

O 

Colonel,  regretfully.  "  But  somewhat  must  be  allowed 
to  youthful  excitement !" 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  215 

"  I  have  had  your  ultimatum" — continued  the  Eng 
lishman,  mastering  his  choler  with  a  strong  effort. 
"  Now,  hear  mine  !  I  do  not  consider  myself  bound 
by  so  much  as  the  strength  of  a  hair  by  your  refusal  to 
sanction  my  honorable  addresses  to  your  daughter. 
Refusal  based  upon  rancorous  revenge  that  dishonors 
humanity.  If  I  can  win  her  who  is,  already,  in  heart 
my  wife,  by  fair  means,  it  shall  be  done.  If  not — let 
foul  means  be  met  by  desperate  measures !" 

The  Master  of  Westover  stopped  a  foot  short  of  the 
line  dividing  the  two  plantations,  and  again  had  re 
course  to  the  heir-loom  snuff-box. 

"  I  know  the  Mordaunt  blood,  when  hot,  to  be  a 
most  pestilent  fluid,"  he  uttered,  composedly.  "  Since 
etiquette  and  expediency — twin  tyrants  to  whom  all 
Christendom  does  homage — require  that  we  return  to 
the  revellers  together  and  in  seeming  amity,  we  will 
e'en  hoist  a  flag  of  truce  figuratively,  and  declare  an 
armistice  until  good-nights  are  said.  After  that,  the 
black  flag  !" 

"  You  stayed  away  for  an  eternity  !"  pouted  Martha 
Jaqueline,  tripping  forward  to  meet  them.  "  I  could 
not  half  enjoy  the  sunset  without  you,  Colonel,  and 
here  is  Madam  Byrd  descanting  upon  the  danger  of 
river-fogs  and  night-damps,  and  all  sorts  of  auguries 
of  speedy  separation.  You've  been  long  enough  to 
kill,  capture,  and  torture  every  colonist  who  ever  set 
foot  in  Virginia.  Marl  borough's  battles  were  nothing 
by  comparison." 

"So  Mr.  Francis  is  thinking,  although  too  civil  to 
repeat  the  words  you  put  into  his  mouth  !"  retorted  the 
Colonel.  "  Strike,  but  hear  ! — of  the  surprise  I  have 


216  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

prepared  for  you,  one  that  might  buy  forgiveness  from 
a  sterner  judge  than  your  adorable  self.  Caliban  !  run 
down  the  hill  to  the  persimmon-bushes  yonder,  and  bid 
the  fiddlers  who  should  be  in  hiding  there,  come  up. 
What  say  you  to  that,  my  dear  Lady  Disdain?  "Will 
not  a  dance  upon  the  sward  atone  for  our  joint  l&se 
majestef  What,  ho!  young  sirs  and  merry  lasses! 
'Foot  it  featly  here  and  there  !'  " 

To  the  secretary  had  been  committed  the  duty  of 
stationing  the  fiddlers  three  in  ambush,  there  to  await 
the  master's  orders.  Not  until  this  was  done  did  he 
consider  it  altogether  safe  to  acquaint  himself  with  the 
details  he  must  master  if  he  would  sympathize  intel 
ligently  with  his  chief's  annoyances.  He  locked  the 
study-door,  unlocked  the  escritoire,  and  ran  his  eye 
over  every  paper  that  had  come  in  the  morning  mail, 
until  it  alighted  upon  this  paragraph  in  the  letter  of  a 
titled  correspondent : 

"  The  new  Earl  of  Peterborough  has  at  last  suc 
ceeded  in  possessing  himself  of  all  the  property  his 
grandfather  could  not  spend,  or  take  away  with  him. 
He  would  seem  to  be  an  improvement  upon  his  father, 
whose  only  exhibition  of  discretion  and  propriety  was 
in  declining  to  outlive  7i/,9  father,  the  late  lord.  Take 
him  all  in  all,  we  shall  ne'er  see  Peterborough's  like 
again.  He  was  as  gallant  as  Amadis,  and  as  brave, 
albeit  more  expeditious  in  his  journeyiugs.  He  had 
seen  more  kings  and  more  postilions  than  any  other 
man  in  Europe.  It  was  the  popular  saying  that  he 
would  neither  live  nor  die  like  any  other  mortal.  But 
die  he  did,  and,  as  we  may  be  sure,  not  of  his  free  will. 
Otherwise,  it  was  in  him  to  cheat  his  grandson,  as  he 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  217 

cheated  his  son,  out  of  a  peerage.  'Tis  said  the  young 
fellow — now  rising  thirty  years  of  age — has  much  of 
his  grandsire's  wit  and  liking  for  adventures.  If  this 
be  so,  you  will,  belike,  hear  of  him,  for  he  sailed  t'other 
day  for  America." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

"  THERE  is  no  such  thing  as  human  premonition  !" 
the  Wcstover  oracle  had  pronounced. 

Mr.  Fontaine  smiled,  in  recalling  the  dictum  on  his 
way  to  the  Byrd  homestead  the  morning  after  the  sylvan 
fete.  Notwithstanding  Madam's  prognostications,  the 
fog  had  fallen  late  overnight.  It  had,  also,  been  late 
in  rising  on  the  morrow.  At  ten  o'clock  the  rime  yet 
sparkled,  like  hoar-frost  upon  brake  and  grass,  and 
silvered  the  webs  spread  over  the  stubble-fields.  Evelyn 
had  called  them  once,  in  his  hearing,  "  the  fairies'  bleach- 
ing-grounds."  At  thought  of  the  graceful  conceit,  the 
half-smile  was  more  tender. 

She  was  singularly  gentle,  even  for  her,  to  him,  now 
adays.  Last  evening,  during  the  absence  of  her  father 
and  the  English  guest,  her  talk  with  him  was  confi 
dential.  She  had  doubts  and  scruples  on  clivers  points 
on  which  she  would  consult  him.  She  desired  to  be 
upright  and  truthful,  always,  if  she  could.  But  if  a 
great  and  long-coveted  good  could  be  obtained  only  by 
what  strict  moralists  would  account  questionable  meas 
ures — what  was  one  to  do  ?  Was  not  the  maxim, 

K  19 


218  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Of  two  evils  choose  the  less/'  sound  and  safe  in  such 
a  case  ? 

"  If  one  is  absolutely  shut  up  to  the  choice  of  an 
evil,"  Fontaine  answered.  "  The  deceitful  ness  of  human 
nature  often  inclines  us  to  the  belief  that  there  is  no 
alternative,  because  we  have  already  decided  to  do  one 
of  these  two  things,  and  we  will  see  none  other.  There 
is  seldom — scarce  once  in  a  thousand  times — a  direct 
conflict  of  duties.  The  fault  is  in  our  distorted  views 
of  right  and  wrong." 

"  But  where  the  welfare  of  more  than  one  person  is 
concerned  ?" — Evelyn  went  on,  her  lovely  eyes  full  of 
vague  trouble.  "  Where  it  is  not  possible  to  do  what  two 
people — or  three — or  four  would  advise,  and  the  claims 
of  both  parties  seem  equally  good, — how  can  one  decide 
what  is  really  and  simply  and  altogether  right  to  do?" 

It  was  very  sweet  to  be  deferred  to,  and  to  be 
allowed  the  privilege  of  ministering  to  the  guileless 
soul  in  its  perplexity.  He  did  not  venture  another 
glance  at  her,  lest  she  might  divine  how  sweet  he 
found  it.  He  picked  up  a  rose  that  had  fallen  from 
her  hair  before  trusting  himself  to  answer.  She 
seemed  not  to  recognize  the  flower  in  his  fingers,  and, 
by  and  by,  he  put  it  into  his  pocket. 

When,  full  of  years  and  honors,  he  returned  a 
blameless  life  to  Him  who  gave  it,  the  embrowned 
petals  were  found  in  a  sealed  packet  in  a  secret  drawer, 
were  speculated  over  idly  and  wonderingly,  and  cast 
aside  with  other  rubbish. 

They  were  rich  in  color  and  scent,  and  quivered 
with  the  warm  pulses  of  the  hidden  heart  while  the 
rector  made  reply, — 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  219 

"  A  good  rule  for  general  adoption  is,  '  the  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number/ — cseteris  paribus.  But 
general  rules  are  frequently  a  misfit  in  special  cases. 
An  enlightened  conscience  is  a  pretty  safe  counsellor." 

"  Ah  !"  with  what  her  step-mother  reprobated  as  her 
"  Frenchy  manner," — "  if  one  is  satisfied  that  her  con 
science  is  enlightened  !  Suppose  we,  Mr.  Fontaine, 
that  you,  as  my  spiritual  guide,  admonish  me  to  do 
one  thing,  and  my  father,  my  natural  guardian,  com 
mand  me  to  do  another,  and  a  diverse — what  course  am 
I  to  take  ?" 

"  '  Who  shall  decide  when  doctors  disagree' — if  not 
the  patient?"  returned  Fontaine,  playfully.  And  more 
seriously:  "There  arise  occasions  in  every  human  life 
when  the  soul  feels  itself  to  be  solitary  save  for  the 
Presence  that  ever  attends  it.  It  must  act  of,  and  in, 
and  for  itself.  The  nearest  and  dearest  of  earthly 
friends  may  not,  then,  intermeddle  with  its  joy,  or  enter 
into  its  bitterness.  Do  not  ask  why  this  is  so.  It  is 
GOD'S  will ;  therefore,  in  some  way  for  our  good." 

At  that  others  had  broken  in  upon  the  dialogue. 
But  for  the  interruption,  he  felt  sure  that  she  would 
have  spoken  more  frankly  and  specifically  of  that 
which  vexed  and  tried  her.  Whatever  it  might  be, 
and  whensoever  she  might  confide  it  unto  him,  the  con 
fidence  must  strengthen  their  cordial  mutual  under 
standing,  and  lessen  the  distance  between  them. 

Thus  musing,  and  feeling  the  beauty  of  the  day 
rather  as  in  sympathy  with  his  tranquil  happiness  than 
as  an  accessory,  he  rode  through  wood  and  plantation 
until  he  met  Colonel  Byrd,  again  mounted  upon  Pluto, 
at  the  outermost  gate  of  his  domain. 


220  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

" A  la  bonne  heure,  Monsieur  Fontaine!"  cried  the 
genial  seignior,  cheeking  his  restive  steed.  "  You  are 
bound  for  Westover,  I  hope?  My  Lady  was  wishing 
for  you  but  now.  A  nasty  happening  has  troubled  her 
soul  to  the  depths,  and  naught  but  the  consolations  of 
the  clergy  can  calm  it.  I  commit  what  slight  share  I 
have  had  in  creating  the  commotion  to  your  friendship 
and  sterling  judgment.  Meanwhile,  I  choose  the 
wiser  part  of  valor.  You  are  under  the  aegis  of  the 
cloth,  and  therefore  safe.  The  blessing  of  the  fugitive 
be  with  you  !" 

The  chaplain  was  not  alarmed.  He  knew  too  well 
the  bland  autocracy  of  the  ruler  of  the  realm  and  his 
spouse's  wholesome  awe  of  her  polished  lord  to  appre 
hend  trouble  for  himself  in  deciding  between  them. 
Madam  took  life — with  her,  almost  a  synonyme  for 
domestic  worries — hard.  The  worst  the  umpire  had 
to  fear  was  some  fresh  act  of  contumacy  on  the  part 
of  William  the  Third,  whose  instructor  in  Latin  and 
Greek  Mr.  Fontaine  was  in  the  interregnum  separating 
the  regime  of  one  English  tutor  from  another,  or  she 
suspected  Caliban  of  pilfering,  or  Lsis,  Osiris  and 
neophytes  had  failed  in  some  cardinal  culinary  process. 

Caliban  flew  out  to  the  gate  to  hold  his  stirrup  as  he 
alighted,  a  marvellous  condescension  in  so  distinguished 
a  member  of  the  household  staff. 

"  Mis'  Evelyn  say  's  how  she  mus'  see  you,  suh,  arter 
Mistis  done  wid  you  !•"  said  the  lad,  hurriedly,  drop 
ping  upon  one  knee  to  brush  the  rector's  shoes.  "  She 
say,  '  don'  go  'way,  please,  suh,  'tell  she  see  you,  ef 
'tain'  'till  plump  night!"' 

The  message  was  as  unique  as  urgent,  and  rendered 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  221 

more  peculiar  by  the  sight  of  Madam's  august  self 
approaching  the  door  through  the  hall. 

"  You  are  as  welcome  as  an  angel  from  heaven  !" 
she  cried,  offering  both  hands,  and  pulling,  rather  than 
drawing  him  into  the  library. 

When  they  were  within,  she  shut  both  doors,  and 
waved  him  to  a  seat  beside  her  on  the  sofa. 

"  Welcome  as  an  angel  of  mercy  to  this  afflicted 
household!"  she  pursued,  with  real  feeling  that  robbed 
word  and  action  of  melodramatic  effect.  "  Such  a 
terrible  night  and  morning  as  we  have  had  !  Evelyn 
could  escape  after  the  awful  scene  with  her  father  upon 
our  return  from  the  tea-ground  last  night.  She  has  been 
locked  in  her  room  ever  since,  and  only  answers  me 
through  the  door  that  she  wants  for  nothing  save  to  be 
left  to  herself." 

"  Yet  she  sent  a  message  that  she  wished  to  see  me !" 
thought  the  listener,  grieved  to  learn  that  she  suffered, 
yet  inexpressibly  moved  that  she  turned  to  him  for 
comfort,  when  others  were  excluded. 

"But  I  must  keep  up  and  about,  and  smother  my 
feelings,  and  pour  out  coffee  and  make  talk  at  break 
fast-table,  on  account  of  Colin  Bass  and  the  servants 
(not  that  he  would  ever  discover  anything  that  wasn't 
right  under  his  nose!),  and  smile  at  the  Colonel's  jokes. 
It  is  his  way — one  of  them — to  seem  in  extravagant 
spirits  when  he  is  most  dangerous.  Heaven  forgive 
me  for  the  word  !  but  I  am  sore  bestead,  Mr.  Fontaine  ! 
For  'tis  I  who  am  blamed  for  the  whole  mischance. 
'  Had  /  been  blessed  with  ordinary  prudence,  the  man 
would  never  have  been  let  into  the  house !'  'Tis  I 
who  am  '  so  crazy  after  English  gentry  that  I  must, 

19* 


222  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

forsooth,  snap  at  this  sprig  of  nobility  and  make  him 
and  myself  the  talk  of  the  county  by  toadying  him 
and  giving  the  lovers  all  manner  of  opportunities  of 
billing  and  cooing/  when  if  lie  'had  been  at  home,  the 
trick  would  have  been  exposed  in  forty-eight  hours 
after  he  and  that  arch-traitor  Martha  Jaqueline  landed 
at  the  Westover  wharf.' 

"  And  this,  though  I  plucked  up  spirit  to  tell  him 
last  night  in  Evelyn's  presence  that,  by  his  own  show 
ing,  'twas  not  until  the  letter  from  my  Lord  Orrery 
arrived  yester-morning  saying  that  Lord  Peterborough 
had  sailed  for  America,  that  he  suspected  anything ! 
How,  after  reading  that  letter,  he  could  disport  himself 
all  the  afternoon  as  if  naught  had  happened ;  telling 
his  funny  and  sad  stories,  and  saying  the  gallantest 
things  to  Martha  Jaqueliue,  who  is,  sooth  to  say,  more 
to  blame  than  the  poor  young  lord,  for,  says  not  the 
poet  that  '  all's  fair  in  love  and  war'? — passes  even  my 
understanding,  and  I've  known  William  Evelyn  Byrd 
for  a  dozen  years.  I'm  sure  I  went  into  hysterics 
forthwith,  when  he  marshalled  me  and  Evelyn — who 
looked  fit  to  faint  at  his  first  word — into  the  study 
when  we  got  home  from  what  I'd  been  saying  was  a 
mighty  pleasant  tea-drinking  and  dance, — and  says, 
without  a  lisp  of  preface, — 

"  ( My  Lord  of  Peterborough  and  I  had  a  right 
merry  crack  auent  massacre  and  masquerade,  this  after 
noon.  I  was  minded' — so  he  ran  on,  smiling  all  the 
while — 'to  quote  to  him  Samson's  pleasantry  about 
ploughing  with  an  honest  man's  heifer,  but  conceived 
the  figure,  however  apt,  to  be  hardly  respectful  to 
you,  my  Lady  Byrd,'  he  says.  '  At  any  rate,  until 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  223 

I  had  assured  myself  how  much,  or  how  little  you 
know  !' 

"I  must  say  that  Evelyn  proved  herself  her  father's 
child  so  soon  as  she  gat  back  color  and  voice. 

"  '  My  mother  knew  naught  of  the  matter  you  speak 
of/  she  declared,  never  flinching  one  whit.  'Blame 
me,  if  you  like,  for  I  knew  all.  'Twas  I  sent  the 
token  to  Jamestown  that  lured  him  hither,'  said  she, 
head  up  and  eyes  a-light.  'But  spare  her.  She  is 
innocqnt !' 

"  Upon  hearing  which,  as  I  said,  I  fell  into  hysterics 
that  might  well  have  lasted  'till  now  had  not  his  deal 
ings  with  Evelyn  diverted  my  attention.  She  is  not 
my  own  daughter,  Mr.  Fontaine,  but  my  heart  bled 
for  her  while  hearing  the  cutting  sneers  and  caustic  re 
proaches  she  had  to  endure,  and  she  moving  no  more 
than  one  of  those  stone  posts  out  there,  never  trem 
bling,  nor  letting  fall  a  tear — only  when  he  asked,  sar 
castically,  of  the  next  act  in  the  farce,  saying,  as  a 
statue  might  open  its  mouth  and  speak :  '  I  have 
given  my  word  to  marry  Charles  Mordauut,  papa, 
whether  you  will  or  no,  and  I  cannot  go  back  !'" 

The  narrator  was  crying  so  heartily  that  she  was 
forced  to  muffle  her  face  in  her  handkerchief  and  lose 
volubility  in  sobs. 

Fontaine  sat  like  the  statue  to  which  she  had  likened 
her  step-daughter.  From  the  wet  tangle  of  the  tale, 
he  drew  one  thread  that  seemed  to  wind  about  and  cut 
into  his  heart. 

This  Francis  was  Evelyn  Byrd's  early  lover.  She 
loved  him  still.  She  had  always  loved  him.  She 
would  marry  him.  The  beautiful  dream  that  had 


224  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

glorified  his  own  life — the  dream  that,  of  late,  he  had 
believed  was  shaping  itself  into  reality  that  was  divine — 
was  more  tenuous  than  the  morning  vapors,  and  left 
arid  blackness  after  it. 

Madam  Byrd's  suspicions — freely  expressed  to  Mrs. 
Carter  and  Miss  Lotsie,  of  the  rector's  passion  for  her 
step-child — were  swept  away  and  forgotten  in  the 
whirl  wind  of  the  new  revelation.  Perhaps  the  knowl 
edge  that  the  girl  was  adored  by  a  nobleman  put  the 
idea  of  an  nntitled  suitor  with  a  moderate  income  so  far 
out  of  mind  that  she  would  not  have  admitted  to  her 
self  having  indulged  it. 

For  full  five  minutes  her  sobs  were  the  only  sound 
in  the  room.  It  was  hard  for  her  to  stop  crying.  Her 
nerves  had  been  racked,  and  the  relief  of  pouring  out 
the  story  to  the  only  person  to  whom  she  had  a  right  to 
speak  of  it  brought  a  copious  shower  of  natural  tears. 
In  the  absorption  in  her  own  emotions,  she  was  deaf, 
dumb,  and  blind  to  all  else. 

From  where  he  sat,  Fontaine  looked  through  the 
window  at  the  iron  gate  with  the  interlaced  initials  and 
curved  tracery  of  the  arch  above;  the  clumsy  eagles 
balancing  themselves  upon  the  globes  surmounting  the 
posts.  He  actually  found  himself  dully  numbering  the 
stone  balls  and  pineapples  alternating  upon  the  iron 
railing  running  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  gate.  Since 
he  had  entered  the  house,  the  gossamer-nets  robing  the 
stubble  had  dried  into  invisibility.  The  line  of  parti 
colored  forest  defining  the  horizon  cut  keenly  into  the 
sky ;  he  heard,  in  the  same  partial  stupor,  the  whistle 
of  a  partridge  above  the  confused  clamor  of  the  poultry- 
yard  beyond  the  stables.  Still  further  away,  and  heard 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  225 

as  in  a  swoon,  a  baud  of  negroes  was  "  shucking"  corn, 
and  chanting  a  mournful  plantation-melody.  His  world 
was  under  a  spell.  His  life  had  sunk  down  dead  at  his 
feet ;  in  the  horrible  suffocation  of  heart-constriction,  he 
could  not  lift  a  hand  or  stir  a  limb.  Presently,  when 
the  woman  beside  him  ceased  to  sob,  he  must  speak. 
He  would  rather  die. 

The  door  behind  him,  opening  into  the  drawing-room, 
was  softly  unclosed.  He  divined  by  whose  hand  before 
Evelyn  Byrd  glided  around  to  the  front  of  the  sofa. 

"  Mamma  !"  she  said,  quietly,  "  I  knew  that  Mr.  Fon 
taine  was  here,  and  I  have  come  down  to  speak  with 
him." 

"  Thank  you  !"  as  he  set  a  chair  forward  for  her,  him 
self  remaining  standing,  his  eyes  riveted  upon  the  floor. 
"  Do  not  stir,  dear  mother  !  I  want  you  to  hear  what 
I  have  to  say  to  this  good  friend  of  us  all.  Mr.  Fon 
taine  !  you  gave  me  yesterday  as  a  safe  rule, '  The  greatest 
good  to  the  greatest  number.'  Shall  I  deceive  the  trust 
reposed  in  me  by  him  who  has  kept  faith  with  me 
through  years  of  temptation  and  absence?  Shall  I 
displease  his  friends  and  mine,  violate  my  plighted  word, 
and  break  my  own  heart — or  obey  my  father's  unreason 
able  command?  This  is  the  question  I  have  been  ask 
ing  myself  all  night  long.  You  are  a  good  man — 
upright,  humane,  and  wise.  Were  my  case  that  of  your 
sister, — if  the  man  to  whom  her  heart  had  been  true 
for  six  years,  offered  her  clean  hands,  a  pure  life,  and 
steadfast  love;  if  her  father  had  found  no  fault  in  him 
other  than  his  kinship  to  one  who  was  his  enemy  a 
generation  agone — how  would  you  counsel  her  to  act  ?" 

The  appeal  was  made  with  studied  composure  to  the 
P 


226  SIS  GREAT  SELF. 

last  question  let  like  a  red-hot  arrow  into  Fontaine's 
heart.  This  was  not  the  docile,  sensitive  woman  whose 
character  he  thought  he  had  read  from  fly-leaf  to 
"  Finis."  In  the  throes  of  the  past  night  she  had 
entered  upon  a  new  being.  She  was  as  remote  from 
him  at  every  point  of  this  as  if  the  width  of  the  globe 
had  divided  them.  In  every  tone  and  look  he  read 
that  her  mind  was  definitively  made  up.  The  manner 
of  her  reference  to  him  was  warning,  not  irresolution. 

"  Thus  and  thus  stands  the  case  !"  it  said.  "  GOD 
and  I  have  decided  it  in  the  awful  solitude  of  soul  of 
which  you  spoke  to  me  last  night.  As  man  and  priest, 
dare  you  controvert  my  resolution  ?" 

He  raised  his  eyes  and  regarded  her  steadily  when  she 
ceased  to  speak.  She  looked  taller  for  the  regal  pose 
challenging  his  dissent.  Her  eyes  were  large  and 
luminous  ;  her  lips  scarlet;  the  flush  in  her  cheeks  was 
fixed.  All  the  woman  was  up  in  arms.  Yesterday, 
she  was  as  one  who  could  die  for  her  love.  To-day,  she 
would  fight  for  him  to  the  death,  and  scorn  the  grant 
of  a  life  in  which  he  had  no  part. 

Obeying  an  impulse  that  proved  him  her  peer,  Fon 
taine  held  out  his  hand  as  to  a  comrade,  she  rising  to 
take  it.  While  he  spoke  he  held  it  in  a  brotherly 
clasp. 

"  Yourself  must  know  that  I  can  render  but  one 
answer  to  your  citation.  At  the  tribunal  of  your  con 
science  and  of  mine,  in  the  hearing  of  the  GOD  whom 
we  both  serve,  I  say  that  your  allegiance  is  due  to  the 
man  you  love,  and  who  loves  you  !" 

Before  he  could  hinder  her,  Evelyn  carried  his  hand, 
first,  to  her  forehead,  then  to  her  lips.  Both  were 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  227 

burning,  and  the  tear  that  fell  with  her  kiss  was  hot. 
Solemnly  he  led  her  to  her  step-mother. 

"She  will  need  all  the  comfort  your  affection  can 
bring  !"  he  said  to  Madam  Byrd.  "  She  is  in  the  right, 
and  we  must  stand  by  her." 

As  the  two  women  fell  weeping  into  each  other's 
arms,  he  walked  to  the  window  and  looked  forth  with 
eyes  between  which  and  the  landscape  had  fallen  a  black 
pall. 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 

THE  race-ball  was  on  Monday  night;  the  race  and 
the  race-dinner  were  on  Tuesday  ;  the  fttfrchamp&tre 
was  on  Wednesday  afternoon. 

At  sunset  on  Thursday,  all  the  Westover  house-ser 
vants  and  field-hands  were  convened  upon  the  lawn  in 
obedience  to  the  Master's  summons.  He  made  short 
work  of  the  business  in  hand.  Not  one  of  them — 
man,  woman,  or  child — was  to  quit  the  plantation  until 
further  notice  upon  any  pretext  whatsoever,  unless  by 
his  express  command  or  permission.  He  had  given 
orders  to  the  neighborhood  patrol  to  arrest,  tie  up,  and 
whip  within  an  inch  of  his  life  any  servant  of  his  found 
out  of  bounds  without  a  written  pass  signed  by  his  own 
hand.  Lest  some  might  count  upon  cheating  the  patrol, 
he  gave  further  warning  that  he  meant  to  be  his  own 
constable  for  some  time  to  come. 

"You  know  what  that  means!"  While  he  talked, 
he  tapped  the  lid  of  his  snuff-box  with  a  shapely  fore- 


228  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

finger,  the  nail  of  which  was  in  form  like  a  filbert,  and 
the  color  as  delicate  as  the  finest  lady's  in  the  land;  his 
smile  was  placid,  his  broad-lidded  eyes  were  sleepy. 
"  I  can  do  with  less  sleep  than  anybody  else  on  this 
plantation.  For  a  fortnight  to  come,  each  one  of  you 
may  depend  upon  finding  me  in  the  very  last  place  in 
which  he  expected  to  see  me,  and  at  the  exact  minute 
in  which  he  didn't  care  to  set  eyes  upon  me.  Those 
who  obey  orders,  stay  at  home,  and  mind  their  own 
business,  have  nothing  to  be  afraid  of.  If  one  of  you 
cross  the  Westover  fence  on  either  side,  even  to  pick 
up  a  chinquapin  that  has  fallen  from  a  Westover  bush 
upon  Berkeley  land,  he  will  wish  he  had  never  been 
born,  so  sure  as  my  name  is  Byrd.  If  I  never  was 
in  earnest  before,  I  am  in  earnest  now.  Now,  be  off, 
all  of  you !" 

Colin  Bass  heard  the  imperial  ukase  from  his 
writing-table,  and  smiled  his  pale,  joyless  smile  to  the 
vellum  quarto.  He  had  been  closeted  for  two  hours 
of  the  afternoon  with  his  superior,  and  found  an  oppor 
tunity  to  confide  to  one  who,  he  felt,  ought  to  know 
whatever  was  going  on  upon  the  premises,  certain  ugly 
surmises  forced  upon  his  own  unwilling  mind  by  inci 
dents  connected  with  the  visit  of  the  Englishman,  call 
ing  himself  Francis.  He — the  respectful  secretary — 
brought  forward  proofs  in  support  of  the  theory  that 
this  same  gentleman  was  better  known  elsewhere  under 
another  name.  These  proofs  were  mainly  lapses  in 
discretion  on  the  part  of  Mistress  Martha  Jaqueline  in 
speaking  to  and  of  Mr.  Francis;  in  the  Englishman's 
inattention  when  accosted  by  the  title  he  had  given  as 
his;  his  familiarity  with  English  high  life;  his  reserve 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  229 

as  to  his  personal  antecedents;  lastly, — and  here  the 
ingenuous  scribe  made  a  pause  that  did  honor  to  his 
heart  and  taste, — he  had  "  chanced  to  overhear  the 
stranger  addressed  in  private  conversation  as  '  Your 

Lordship'  by one  who  never  styled  him  thus  in 

general  conversation." 

"  Name  him  !"  ordered  the  auditor,  until  now  as  im 
passive  as  ice,  and  as  uninviting  to  the  communicative. 

The  secretary  hesitated,  painfully. 

"  I  beg  you  will  not  insist  upon  that  demand,  sir. 
Nothing  but  the  certainty  that  your  generous  confidence 
was  abused  would  have  impelled  me  to  the  extremity 
of  broaching  a  topic  so  disagreeable  to  myself,  and,  I 
doubt  not,  to  you.  The  lapsus  linguce  to  which  I  refer 
occurred  at  the  ball  of  Monday  night,  and  was  proba 
bly  overheard  by  myself  alone." 

The  Colonel  smiled  cynically. 

"I  should,  then,  have  said,  'Name  her!'  Was  the 
unwary  fair  one  an  unmarried  lady?" 

"If  you  will  excuse  me,  sir " 

"Most  certainly  not!'' 

"Then,  sir,  the  speaker  was  not  a  spinster." 

"  Was  it  Mrs.  Harrison  or  Mrs.  Carter  ?" 

Another  obviously  reluctant  pause. 

"Neither,  sir!" 

"  I  have  no  further  inquiries  to  make,  Mr.  Bass !" 
mildly  courteous.  "I  thank  you  for  your  fidelity  to 
my  interests  and  commend  your  discretion.  What 
you  have  said  is  safe  with  me.  Heaven  is  my  wit 
ness," — a  dreary  smile  wringing  the  healthful  color 
put  of  the  handsome  face, — "  I  was  never  in  bitterer 
need  of  faithful,  incorruptible  friendship.  When  a 

20 


230  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

man's  foes  are  those  of  his  own  household,  and  he  is 
betrayed  with  kisses,  he  may  well  be  ignorant  where 
to  turn." 

The  unprecedented  evidence  of  natural  feeling  moved 
even  the  phlegmatic  secretary.  He  cleared  his  throat, 
and  fumbled  with  his  papers  before  replying. 

"  I  am  a  blunt  man,  sir,  and  slow  of  speech,  as  you 
are  well  aware.  But  whatsoever  lies  within  the  power 
of  one  so  humble  as  myself  would  be  thankfully  done, 
if  it  could  be  of  service  to  you.  You  have  befriended 
me,  sir,  when  I  most  needed  a  helping  and  guiding 
hand.  Mine  are  not  showy  talents,  but  such  as  they 
are,  they  are  at  your  disposal.  It  is  the  old  fable  of 
the  lion  and  the  mouse.  I  cannot  protest,  sir,  but  I 
never  forget  a  benefit,  and  your  benefactions  to  me  are 
beyond  number." 

The  Colonel  pushed  his  chair  away,  and  took  a  few 
turns  in  the  small  room. 

"  I  believe  you,  Bass  !"  he  halted  to  say.  "  I  am 
warring  single-handed,  and  against  odds.  Time  was 
when  I  could  have  fought  the  world  with  one  arm 
lashed  behind  my  back.  But  I  am  nearing  the  age  at 
which  one  is  afraid  of  that  which  is  high,  and  things 
deal  deep  wounds  that  would  once  have  scratched  the 
surface  alone.  I  know  you  for  an  honest  fellow — and 
a  loyal.  More  than  that,  for  a  grateful.  You  cannot 
eat  my  bread  and  drink  of  my  cup,  and  yet  watch  for 
opportunity  to  lift  the  heel  against  me.  GOD  help 
me  !  I  am  not  sure,  just  now,  that  I  can  lay  my  hand 
upon  another  among  the  many  whom  I  have  be 
friended  !" 

It  was  in  this  hour  of  unprecedented  weakness,  when 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  231 

his  heart  was  smarting  under  what  he  esteemed  as  de 
fection  on  the  part  of  his  closest  of  kin  and  nearest  in 
interest,  that  he  unfolded  to  the  wily  factotum  all  the 
latter  had  schemed  to  discover.  The  strongest  and 
most  self-reliant  are  not  proof  against  paroxysms  of 
self-distrust  and  morbid  longing-  for  sympathy.  The 
sense  of  the  awful  loneliness  of  the  human  soul  steals 
past  the  defences  of  pride,  the  guards  of  experience, 
the  consciousness  of  native  force,  and  compels  the  cry 
for  succor.  This  is  the  solution  of  many  an  enigma 
involving  the  resort  of  the  mighty  to  the  weak,  the 
unbosoming  of  the  reticent,  and  the  hold  of  the  bad 
upon  the  good. 

Bass  hearkened  with  averted  eyes  and  respectful 
humility.  His  whole  mien  was  assuasive  to  the 
wounded  spirit  of  one  who  faced  failure  as  an  un 
familiar  enemy;  with  whom  success  was  habit — not  a 
happening.  To  a  naturally  arbitrary  temper  he  joined 
belief  in  himself  that  was  well-nigh  sublime.  Despotic 
in  his  principality ;  courted  for  wealth  and  personal 
accomplishments;  admired  for  dauntless  energy  and 
infinite  address, — his  mental  attitude  of  haughty  sur 
prise  at  the  resistance  opposed  to  his  will  by  the  young 
nobleman  and  the  recalcitrant  daughter  who  had  so  long 
meekly  submitted  to  his  decree, — was  exchanged  for 
wrath  none  the  less  deep  because  concealed,  when  he 
awoke  to  the  humiliating  truth  of  his  own  impotency. 
Both  parties  were  of  age.  His  authority  as  parent, 
magistrate,  and  freeholder  could  not,  lawfully,  hinder 
the  marriage  of  these  two,  should  they  maintain  their 
right  and  wish  to  be  thus  united.  He  had  forbidden 
his  daughter  to  hold  any  communication  with  her  lover, 


232  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

with  Martha  Jaqueline,  and  with  Berkeley,  while  the 
two  remained  there.  He  had  threatened  disinheritance, 
severance  from  home  and  kindred,  the  objurgation  of 
neighbors  and  friends — and  looked  vainly  for  tokens 
of  yielding. 

»  O 

She,  who  was  erst  the  most  amiable  and  docile  of  his 
offspring,  had  become  obdurate  and  unfeeling.  Had  he 
struck  her  to  the  earth,  he  could  fancy  her  rising  to 
confront  him  with  the  steady  formula, — 

"My  word  is  given.     I  must  keep  it!" 

Dull  red  gathered  under  the  thick  skin  of  the  sec 
retary,  and  suffused  his  averted  eyes  in  hearing  of  the 
girl's  contumacy.  The  knuckles  in  the  hand  clinched 
upon  his  knee  beneath  the  table  stood  up  whitely,  and 
the  narrow  line  of  his  mouth  thinned  to  a  thread. 
Yet,  under  the  knowledge  of  the  fallacy  of  the  auda 
cious  hope  he  had  nursed ;  the  stinging  consciousness 
that  to  the  high-bred  woman  he  loved  with  passion 
amazing  to  himself,  he  was  little  above  her  groom  in 
station  by  comparison  with  her  titled  lover, — there  was 
ignoble  triumph  in  the  victory  he  had  won  over  her 
father's  prideful  prejudice.  Tyrant  and  tool  had  re 
versed  positions.  What  he  had  listened  to  put  the 
master  into  the  servant's  power — whether  the- master 
suspected  it  or  not. 

"  Nothing,  then,  will  move  you  from  your  purpose?" 
he  asked,  deferentially,  when  his  chief  seemed  to  expect 
him  to  speak. 

"Nothing  in  heaven,  on  earth,  or  in  hell !" 

Bass  bent  his  head  submissively,  as  one  who  has  no 
opinion  or  volition  apart  from  his  superior's. 

"  Well !  what  have  you  to  suggest  ?"  said  the  Colo- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  233 

nel,  impatiently,  when  submission  and  silence  had 
continued  long  enough  to  an  angry  man's  apprehen 
sion. 

"  You  may  blockade  the  plantation," — yet  more 
deferentially, — "and  for  a  season  hinder  correspond 
ence.  But  'tis  manifest  that  the  only  sure  preventive 
of  an  event  you  would  deem  disgraceful  and  deplorable, 
is  to  remove,  at  once  and  for  all,  the  cause  of  the  dis 
turbance." 

"  What  the  devil " 

"Do  not  misunderstand  my  meaning,  sir," — undis 
mayed  by  the  flash  of  wrathful  astonishment  in  the 
dark  eyes.  "I  intimate  naught  that  would  oifend 
the  law.  Nor  am  I  prepared  to  designate  by  what 
means  the  offending  party  could  be  wrought  upon  to 
depart  from  a  region  into  which  he  has  brought  such 
— inconvenience.  But  right  sure  am  I  that  circum 
stance  may  be  found  that  will  bring  about  this  end. 
With  your  permission,  I  will  think  the  case  over  for  a 
night.  We  must  have  time." 

The  Colonel  eyed  him  with  a  mixture  of  new-born 
respect  and  vexed  amusement.  The  calm  assurance 
that  a  way  would  be  found  out  of  a  complication  that 
had  baffled  the  older  and  wiser  man,  carried  weight 
with  it,  little  as  the  Master  guessed  of  the  subordinate's 
inchoate  designs.  Bass  had  a  cool  head  and  a  long  one. 
It  was  a  prudent  thing  to  call  him  into  counsels  the 
proud  man  would  have  sworn,  three  hours  before,  that 
he  would  share  with  none  alive. 

Least  of  all  was  he  inclined  to  confer  with  him  whom 
he  had  jestingly  commended  to  his  wife's  confidence. 
Mr.  Fontaine  had  not  remained  to  dinner,  nor  had  the 

20* 


234  BIS  GREAT  SELF. 

Colonel  received  any  report  of  his  visit.  Madam  Byrd 
and  Evelyn  had  sat  at  table,  apparently  composed  to 
quiet  cheerfulness.  Little  was  said  by  either,  but  that 
was  without  effort  or  constraint.  Yet  the  change  did  not 
look  to  the  cynic  like  Christian  resignation  induced  by 
ghostly  admonition.  It  lacked  the  limpness  that  goes 
after  chastening.  It  was  more  likely  that  Pierre  Fon 
taine,  like  the  high-minded,  sensible  gentleman  he  was, 
had  declined  to  take  sides  in  the  family  squabble.  If 
this  were  so,  he,  Colonel  Byrd,  would  not  drag  him 
into  it.  He  could  rule  his  household  without  priestly 
interference. 

Secretly,  he  cared  not  to  tell  to  the  rector  a  story  he 
had  had  no  difficulty  in  relating  to  the  secretary.  With 
all  his  gentleness,  Fontaine  was  as  fearless  as  his  patron's 
self,  and  no  respecter  of  persons.  He  let  pass  the  rail 
lery  directed  at  his  profession  by  his  powerful  parish 
ioner  ;  the  enumeration  of  the  hundreds  of  Christians 
the  chaplain  made  by  baptizing  the  children  of  heathen 
Indians  and  Gentile  whites  in  the  expeditions  led  by 
Colonel  Byrd  into  North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  He 
smiled  silently  when  held  up  to  general  notice  as  the 
stubbornest  of  water-bibbers,  and  did  not  rebuke  ver 
bally  coarser  jokes,  some  of  which  the  maker  thereof 
thought  worthy  of  perpetuation  in  his  diary.  But 
where  the  Right  was  imperilled  by  sophistry  or  by  disso 
lute  living,  Elijah  was  not  braver,  or  John  the  Baptist 
more  outspoken,  than  the  mild-mannered  descendant  of 
a  persecuted  race.  The  Colonel  had  doubts  as  to  his 
own  ability,  clever  reasoner  though  he  was,  to  persuade 
his  reverend  neighbor  to  regard  Evelyn's  recusancy 
as  heinous,  or  the  parental  opposition  to  the  projected 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  235 

union  as  entirely  righteous.  He  had  no  doubts,  more 
over,  as  to  how  Fontaine  would  receive  the  declaration 
of  the  autocrat's  resolution  to  prevent  the  marriage  by 
stringent  measures,  should  pacific  fail. 

Bass  was  the  safer  ally  of  the  two  for  the  enterprise 
in  hand. 

Bass's  own  opinion  was  emphatically  to  this  effect. 
He  could  have  assigned  a  hundred  cogent  reasons  for 
it,  as  he  lounged  down  the  rose-alley  leading  to  the 
church-yard  that  evening.  He  usually  took  his  after- 
supper  smoke  among  the  tombs,  a  privilege  nobody  dis 
puted. 

"  Wonder  ef  he  goter  parss!"  sneered  Caliban  to  the 
colored  cabal,  seeing  him  pass  the  kitchen-window. 

The  secretary's  acute  hearing  caught  the  gibe  and  the 
shrilly-derisive  "ki-yi!"  applauding  it.  He  could  let 
the  dogs  yelp.  lie  owned  their  master.  He  put  it 
broadly  to  himself,  with  all  that  it  conveyed.  He  had 
been  careful  not  to  suffer  the  potentate  to  feel  that  he 
had  stooped  lower  than  ever  before  in  his  honorable 
life.  To  humble  him  would  be  to  alarm  arrogance  and 
prick  pride  into  fury.  The  tongue  the  owner  thereof 
was  pleased  to  stigmatize  as  "  slow,"  had  glozed  over 
the  truth  of  debasement  on  one  side,  and  vulgar  victory 
upon  the  other.  He  was  never  more  obsequiously  the 
Master's  instrument  than  when  he  sat  down  upon  the 
tomb  of  the  first  William  Byrd  of  Westover,  and 
struck  a  light  with  flint  and  steel,  holding  the  well-filled 
pipe  in  his  left  hand. 

The  tobacco  did  not  ignite  at  once.  Three  times  the 
blue  spark  snapped  viciously  at  and  caught  the  tinder, 
revealing  every  sunken  letter  in  the  Latin  inscription 


236  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

registering  provincial  offices  filled  by  the  sleeper  under 
brick  and  marble,  and  his  demise — "4th  Die  Decembris 
170 Jf,  post  quam  vicessit.  52  Annos" 

Each  time  lie  waited  until  one  might  count  thirty 
before  making  another  attempt.  The  third  essay  was 
successful,  and  he  smoked  tranquilly,  his  face  river- 
ward,  his  legs,  disproportionately  short  for  the  trunk 
they  supported,  swinging  idly  against  the  brick  wall  of 
the  ugly  parallelogram. 

It  was  a  safe  place  for  meditation.  The  negroes 
feared  to  cross  the  church-yard  after  sunset,  and  the 
whites  were  not  nocturnal  prowlers.  There  were  bats 
in  the  conical  bell-tower  set  upon  the  chapel -roof,  and, 
annoyed  by  the  light,  one  flapped  Colin's  hat  with  his 
loathsome  wings,  in  a  downward  swoop.  He  made  a 
futile  pass  at  the  thing  with  his  hand,  never  withdraw 
ing  his  gaze  from  the  river.  The  ruddy  flicker  of  the 
pipe-bowl  showed  his  heavily-moulded  features,  stolid, 
but  for  the  gleam  of  the  deep-set  eyes.  The  rest  of 
the  figure  was  in  obscurity.  The  moonless  night  was 
the  blackness  of  darkness  under  the  trees.  While  he 
stared  at  the  water,  something  like  a  falling  spark 
illumined  the  filmy  surface  and  was  gone.  Another 
followed  presently,  and  after  an  interval,  a  third.  The 
secretary  smoked  on  placidly  to  the  bottom  of  the  pipe, 
pocketed  it,  and  lounged  aimlessly  down  the  declivity 
to  the  beach. 

The  shadows  stirred   uneasily  twentv  yards   behind 

•/  *       *> 

him.  Something  only  distinguishable  as  a  darker  shade 
skulked  over  the  supple,  uncut  grasses,  lurking  now 
behind  a  tree,  then  wriggling,  serpent-like,  in  the 
open  spaces, — always  in  the  lounger's  track.  When  he 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  237 

stopped  at  the  water's  edge,  the  shadows  were  still ;  but 
Caliban,  barefoot,  and  stripped  to  his  shirt  and  breeches, 
lay  flat  among  the  willows  within  ten  feet  of  him. 

The  muffled  stroke  of  oars  was  already  audible. 
Before  the  keel  could  touch  ground,  the  secretary  landed, 
with  a  spring,  in  the  bows,  and  the  craft,  a  dark  oblong 
among  the  mists,  swept  into  the  stream. 

Caliban  stood  upright,  gaping  after  it,  foiled  and 
furious,  for  one  despairing  instant.  The  next,  he  had 
cast  off  his  garments  twain,  and  slipped  into  the  shal 
lows  like  a  water-snake.  There  was  no  time  for  think 
ing,  yet  a  glint  of  fun  went  through  his  mind  with  the 
first  stroke  in  deep  water. 

"  Marster  ain'  neber  say  northin"bout  takin'  ter  de 
water  !  He  say, '  Don'  sot  you'  fut  on  nobody  else's  Ian'.' 
Reckon  I  done  been  got  ahade  o'  de  partrollers, dis  time !" 

He  could  swim  as  fast  and  as  soundlessly  as  an  eel, 
and  float  by  the  hour  on  his  back,  the  water  on  a  level 
with  his  mouth.  If  his  enemy  thought  to  elude  him 
by  quitting  terra  firma,  he  reckoned  without  account  of 
a  riverside  and  "  quarters"  education.  Some  rays  the 
sun  had  forgotten  to  recall  lingered  in  mid-stream,  but 
the  kindly  fog  would  soon  blot  them  out.  Should  he 
be  perceived  by  the  inmates  of  the  boat,  he  had  only  to 
dive  and  swim  away  under  water.  Rash  as  the  expe 
dient  appeared,  he  was  safer  than  on  a  land-hunt.  The 
oars  were  plied  slowly  ;  he  swam  fast,  almost  too  swiftly, 
for  he  was  brought  up  alongside  of  the  boat  by  the 
sudden  slackening  of  the  rower's  stroke. 

"  Hold  up !"  said  Bass,  so  close  to  the  lad  that  he 
ducked,  dived  under  the  keel  and  came  up  on  the  other 
side,  a  little  farther  away.  "'Twas  well  you  were  on 


238  If  IS   GREAT  SELF. 

the  look-out.  I  was  afraid  you  mightn't  be,  and  I 
wanted  particularly  to  see  you  to-night." 

"  Thar  was  two  on  us,  then  !  I  was  a-layin'  by 
on  a-purpus  to  see  could  I  git  sight  or  word  o'  you," 
chuckled  the  captain  of  the  smuggling-vessel. 

"  What's  the  matter?     Anything  wrong?" 

"  Maybe  you  kin  tell  bettern  me.  I've  got  the  chance 
of  a  passenger." 

"  To  Norfolk  ?" 

"  To  Norfolk — and  clean  across  ?" 

"  Who  is  it  ?  and  what'll  he  pay  ?" 

"I  didn't  ask  his  name,  but  he's  a  English  gent  by 
the  cut  on  him.  Overhauled  us  this  arternoon  'bout 
a  hour  o'  sundown.  A-rowin'  of  hisself  in  a  tight  little 
canoe.  Had  the  pull  o'  the  devil's  race-horse.  Said  's 
how  he  was  out  on  a  breathin'  spell,  jes'  to  stretch  his 
arms.  He  was  a-stretchin'  on  'em  proper,  too.  He 
slacked  up  an'  hove  Alongside  on  seein'  mea-leanin'  over 
the  guards.  We'd  dropped  anchor  for  th'  night  'bout 
a  mile  below  Wyanoake,  an'  the  men  was  all  ashore." 

"  After  chicken-roosts,  I'll  be  bound.  If  you  don't 
have  a  care,  my  man,  one  of  your  rascals  will  bring 
back  a  spare  bullet  to  you,  one  of  these  fine  nights,  or 
you'll  have  to  look  up  another  hand." 

"The  niggers  goes  bail  fur  'em  gin'rally.  It's  few 
fat  pullets  gits  jerked  off  the  roosts  by  Jack.  A  string 
o'  beads  to  a  wench,  and  a  taste  o'  liquor  to  a  buck,  pays 
honest  for  all  the  poultry.  Let  my  lads  alone  for  keep- 
in'  whole  skins  !  But,  'bout  my  passenger  !  We  falls 
inter  talk,  me  bein'  lonesome  an'  sociabel-inclined,  an' 
pres'ny  I  axes  him  aboard.  He  sez  he  don'  keer  ef  he 
does,  an'  I  draps  him  a  line  to  make  fast  his  skiff,  an' 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  239 

when  'tis  done,  he  comes  up  on  a  rope,  han'  over  fist, 
like  a  reg'lar  seaman,  an'  sots  down  for  a  chat.  An'  sez 
he,  pres'ny,  '  What's  your  cargo  ?'  So  I  sez,  '  Gin 
seng  an'  pelts  an'  potatoes  an'  a  little  tobaccy,  when  I 
ken  git  hold  on  it  honest  an'  reasonable,'  sez  I.  '  For 
bein'  as  how  I'm  marster  o'  my  schooner,'  sez  I, '  I  can't 
take  no  heavy  risks,'  sez  I. 

"  So  I  mixed  two  horns  o'  grog,  stiff  an'  sweet,  an' 
he  tossed  off  his  like  a  man,  an'  praised  it  too,  an'  pretty 
soon  I  was  a-showin'  on  him  how  I'd  things  tolerable 
ship-shape  fur  a  sea-farm'  man,  in  cabin,  an'  fo'kiskle  an' 
all.  '  An'  when  do  you  sail  ?'  sez  he,  when  he'd  sworn 
he'd  never  see  a  cleaner  hole,  an'  that  he  wouldn'  min' 
eatin'  off  the  decks.  '  A-Monday  night,'  sez  I. 

"  '  Aha  !'  sez  he,  sort  o'  struck-like,  an'  goes  off  inter 
a  brown  study. 

"  By  V  by  he  speaks  up  in  a'  off-han',  free-n-easy 
way, — 'Be  hanged  !'  sez  he,  'ef  I'm  not  in  half  a  min' 
ter  take  passage  with  you,  myself,  ef  you  ken  make  room 
fur  me.  Have  you  any  other  passengers  engaged  ?'  he  sez. 
'  I  don'  hanker  arter  passengers  in  a  gin'ral  way,'  sez  I. 
"  '  But  'sposin'  you're  well  paid  for  it?'  sez  he,  kind 
o' jolly.  "Thar's  that  tidy  cabin  o'  yourn,'  sez  he. 
*  Would  you  think  a  hundred  poun'  a  fair  price  fur  it, 
all  the  way  to  Liverpool,  for  one — maybe  two  pas 
sengers,  who'd  lay  in  their  own  vittels  in  Norfolk?' sez 
he.  '  I'm  dog-tired  o'  knockin'  roun'  the  world  !'  sez  he. 
'  You  look  like  a  man  as  ken  hole  his  tongue,'  sez  he. 
'  I'm  a-stayin'  with  frien's  on  the  river,  an'  ken  bring 
ray  mails  aboard  Sunday  night,  to  be  all  stored  away 
snug,  an'  come  aboard  myself,  Monday  midnight,  with  a 
frien'  or  two  whar  will  see  me  down  the  river/  so/,  he. 


240  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Well !  I  played  off  a  little  for  the  sake  o'  business, 
an'  knowin'  I  dassent  clinch  the  bargin'  'thout  ask  in' 
you,  seein'  you're  the  biggest  owner  o'  the  schooner. 

'T  las' — to  belay  this  d d  long  tongue  o'  mine,  I 

promised  he  should  have  a'  answer  ter-morrer  evenin', 
'bout  sunset,  an' the  men  ter  know  nothin'  'bout  it,  for 
fear  thar  mought  be  fuss  with  frien's  whar's  expectin' 

to  have  him  pay  }em  a  visit What  the  devil's  the 

matter  with  you?  You'll  capsize  her,  if  you  thrash 
'roun'  that  ar  way  !" 

"A  d d  mosquito!"  Bass  slapped  his  hand 

smartly.  "Keep  her  moving  a  little,  won't  you?  so 
they  won't  settle  so  thickly.  If  I'm  not  mistaken, 
Providence,  or  luck,  or  the  devil,  have  helped  you  to 
the  very  business  I  wanted  to  see  you  about.  What 
was  your  Englishman  like?" 

"  A  d d  personable  chap  !  Blue  eyes,  with  a  laugh 

in  'em  all  the  time.  White  teeth,  an'  lightish,  a'most 
sandy  hair.  He'd  a  ring  on  his  little  finger  with  a  big 
stone  in  it  that  was  jes'  the  color  o'  deep-sea-water. 
Hands  like  a  lady's,  but  they  had  the  grip  in  'em  when 
he  laid  holt  on  them  oars  o'  hisu  !" 

The  information  was  received  in  silence  so  profound 
that  Caliban  dared  not  strike  out  with  hand  or  foot. 
Turning  slowly  over,  he  floated  like  drift-wood  in  the 
languid  wake  of  the  boat,  his  toes  almost  touching  the 
stern,  the  water  displaced  by  the  oars  closing  over  his 
face  in  alternate  waves,  so  that  he  had  to  watch  his 
opportunity  to  take  breath. 

"  Tell  him  you'll  take  him  !"  said  Bass,  finally,  in 
tones  hoarsened  by  the  fog,  or  other  cause.  "  Don't 
seem  over-willing,  you  understand?  but  don't  let  him 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  241 

slip  for  a  thousand  pounds  !  The  job  may  be  worth 
all  of  that  to  you What  the  deuce  is  that?" 

Caliban's  nostrils  had  shipped  a  sea,  and  a  sneeze, 
uncontrollable  and  stertorous,  was  the  consequence. 
The  two  men  listened  with  suspended  oars  and  breath. 

The  mists  unfolded  like  rolls  of  cotton-wool  upon 
the  surface  of  the  water  ;  from  the  land  came  the  hoarse 
bay  of  a  hound  upon  a  night-chase  over  the  low 
grounds  ;  the  wash  of  the  river  against  the  sides  of  the 
boat  was  a  dying  whisper.  All  else  was  as  still  as 
death. 

"  Sturgeon,  or  a  porpus  !"  the  seaman  said,  carelessly. 

"  They're  the  d dest  creturs  for  outlandish  noises  at 

night.  A-chasin'  an'  a-nosin'  one  another,  an'  some 
times  a'-squealin'  V  a-gruntin'  like  horgs.  They  call 
sturgeons  '  Charles  City  bacon,'  you  know." 

Caliban  heard  every  word,  still  floating  like  a  be 
calmed  log,  returning  unuttered  thanks  to  the  hoary 
curtain  settling  between  him  and  the  speakers. 

"  Maybe  so  !"  There  was  a  dubious  inflection  in  the 
tardy  accent.  "  But  even  so,  there's  no  wit  in  talking 
business  so  loudly  that  the  fishes  can  hear." 

They  whispered  after  that  so  cautiously  that  only  an 
occasional  word  reached  the  half-breed.  His  limbs 
were  numbing  with  inaction  in  water  colder  than  on 
summer  nights.  Should  the  secretary  take  a  notion  to 
go  directly  home  and  institute  inquiry  for  him,  trouble 
might  ensue.  He  would  better  get  to  land  silently  and 
speedily.  The  conspirators  did  not  hear  the  cautious 
sweep  with  which  he  struck  out  straight  for  the  haven. 
His  lithe,  naked  body  slid  through  the  water  as  an 
arrow  parts  the  air.  Not  until  he  shook  himself, 
L  7  21 


242  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

spaniel-fashion,  on  the  beach,  did  he  indulge  in  an 
audible  inspiration. 

He  got  into  his  few  clothes  slowly  and  ruminatively. 
The  adventure  had  been  unsatisfactory.  Mistress 
Martha  Jaqtieline's  sweetheart  was,  of  course,  the 
Englishman  who  wanted  to  go  home.  But  unless — 
which  the  boy  could  not  believe — he  meant  to  run 
away  from  her,  there  was  no  reason  why  he — Caliban — 
should  concern  himself  with  his  proceedings.  The 
Harrisons — and  maybe  the  Carters — were  teasing  him 
to  stay  longer  in  America,  and  he  was  homesick, — that 
was  the  upshot  of  the  matter.  Bass  would  probably 
pocket  two-thirds  of  the  passage-money,  and  Caliban 
would  rather  that  he  should  not ;  but  that  was  nothing 
when  weighed  against  the  delight  of  leading  Colonel 
Byrd  to  the  cave  on  the  very  night  set  for  removing  the 
smuggled  goods,  and  seeing  the  entire  party  bagged. 
Then,  his  master  would  be  compelled  to  believe  his  tale 
of  how  the  plot  was  discovered.  For  a  few  minutes, 
he  meditated  conference  with  Mr.  Francis,  but  the 
attempt  would  involve  personal  peril,  and  that  gentle 
man  would  laugh  at  the  story.  If  the  cargo  were  seized 
and  the  captain  arrested,  no  harm  could  befall  the  pas 
senger  except  a  delay  in  the  time  of  embarking,  and 
Mistress  Martha  would  not  object  to  that.  On  the 
whole,  there  seemed  to  be  no  reason  for  changing  the 
well-concerted  policy  of  silence  and  vigilance. 

He  lay  in  the  flags  on  the  river-bank  until  Bass 
returned,  an  hour  later  ;  dogged  him  up  the  bank  as  he 
had  dogged  him  down  ;  saw  him  into  the  house;  peeped 
in  at  the  window  to  behold  him  settle  himself  with 
three  long  candles  on  the  table,  to  writing  in  the  pon- 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  243 

derous  book  Caliban  knew  as  well  by  sight  as  the  scribe 
did  himself, — then,  the  spy  betook  himself  to  his  pallet, 
assured  that  he  might  conscientiously  dismiss  the  guard 
for  the  remainder  of  the  night. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THROUGH  the  windows  of  the  Berkeley  manor-house, 
lances  of  light  fought  with  the  fogs  rolling  up  to  the 
house  walls.  The  master's  recent  illness  made  him 
suspicious  of  night  damps,  and  a  fire  of  "  lightwood- 
knots"  and  cedar  logs  crackled  behind  the  brass  fender. 
Wax-candles  in  silver  candelabra  were  upon  a  table 
that  had  been  rolled  back  from  the  middle  of  the  floor 
to  make  room  for  the  circle  of  chairs  about  the  hearth. 

Genuine  fire- worshippers  then,  as  now,  the  Virginians 
seized  upon  every  excuse  for  adding  this  element  of 
comfort  to  living-rooms  where  cheer  and  home-iness 
were  the  desiderata.  They  wished  to  see,  rather  than 
to  feel,  the  flame.  The  family-party,  enlarged  by  unex 
pected  arrivals  at  supper-time,  fell  into  form,  naturally, 
with  the  red  hearth  as  centre  and  motive.  Girls  in 
flowing  muslins,  and  matrons  in  brocade,  sheltered  their 
eyes  from  glare  and  heat  behind  screens  that  were 
fashionable  brio-a-brao  in  the  drawing-rooms  of  that 
time.  Attendant  beaux  stood  or  sat  behind  them,  glad 
to  be  a  degree  further  removed  from  the  fiery  heart  of 
the  chimney.  Yet  all  felt  the  scene  to  be  the  fairer, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  hour  more  glad,  for  the  leaping, 
writhing,  dancing  blaze. 


244  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Martha  Jaqueline — her  dark,  piquant  beauty  well 
set  off  by  her  favorite  yellow  taffeta,  a  cluster  of  golden- 
rod  in  belt  and  hair — was  directly  opposite  the  windows 
of  the  inland  front  of  the  house.  Her  cheeks  were 
like  the  sun-kissed  side  of  a  Georgian  peach  ;  her  eyes 
glowed  with  what  most  of  the  spectators  read  as  tender 
ness  that  disdained  concealment,  in  meeting  the  upward 
regards  of  him  who  sat  upon  a  cushion  at  her  feet 
tuning  a  guitar,  while  he  talked  with  her. 

The  picture  was  perfect — as  a  picture, — but  certain 
lately-arrived  spectators  marvelled  inly  at  the  com 
placency  with  which  Lieutenant  Maynard,  albeit  only 
a  former  suitor,  surveyed  it  as  an  episode  in  the  love- 
making  of  these  two.  The  Englishman's  profile,  clean- 
cut  as  a  Grecian  god's,  was  cast  up  strongly  against  the 
oaken  wainscot  beyond  him.  The  graceful  abandon 
of  his  attitude,  the  debonair  archness  with  which  he 
looked  up  and  replied  to  his  mistress  while  his  white 
hands  toyed  with  string  and  screw,  and  slipped  along 
the  frets  of  the  instrument, — every  detail  of  the  gra 
cious  whole  was  noted  at  its  fullest  worth  by  a  man 
who,  having  left  his  horse  at  the  gate,  loitered  upon  the 
porch,  unseen  and  unheard. 

While  he  looked  and  tarried,  the  drawing-room 
troubadour  began  to  sing, — still  looking  into  the  warm 
duskiness  of  the  eyes  above  him,  as  if  drawing  melo 
dious  passion  from  their  depths, — 

"  When  the  willow-sap  was  flooding, 
All  the  tender  boughs  a-budding, — 
When  hoar-frost  and  sun  were  gilding 
Twisted  nests  of  thrushes'  building, — - 
It  was  then  I  saw  my  Norma, 
Through  the  bare  hedsje  o'er  the  lea. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  245 

"  When  the  murmuring  leaves  are  sighing 
O'er  the  silent  brook  low-lying, — 
When  the  thrush's  brood  are  sleeping 
'Mid  the  darkening  shadows  creeping, — 
There  I  wait  and  watch  for  Norma 
By  the  thick  hedge  o'er  the  lea. 

"  When  the  willow  droops  the  greenest, — 
Sweeps  the  streamlet's  rim  the  cleanest ; 
When  the  young  bird  flies  the  strongest, 
When  the  sky-glow  shines  the  longest, — 
It  is  then  I'll  take  my  Norma 
From  the  green  hedge, — o'er  the  lea."  * 

As  dreamy  yearning  arose  into  the  full,  rapid  tide 
of  rapturous  anticipation  and  the  sighing  of  flute-like 
tones  was  exchanged  for  the  ringing  peal  of  a  clarion, 
the  unseen  spectator  wheeled  abruptly  away  and  walked 
to  the  edge  of  the  porch.  His  strong,  slender  hands 
beat  upon  one  another  to  bruising  ;  he  looked  up  at  the 
heavens,  inky  beyond  the  shimmering  bands  of  radi 
ance  outlined  by  the  window-frames, — and  a  cry  broke 
from  him  : 

"  Ah,  Lord  !  he  has  everything,  and  I — since  this 
morning — naught !" 

The  rich  man  with  his  exceeding  many  riches  of 
flocks  and  herds;  the  abundance  engaged  by  express 
blessing  of  the  Christ  to  him  who  hath, — he  would  not 
have  been  human  had  not  thoughts  of  these  racked 
him  into  arraignment  of  Divine  justice  and  mercy. 
This  darling  of  fortune — princely  in  beauty  and  in 
wealth  ;  rich  in  all  enslaving  arts;  audacious,  yet  gener 
ous,  in  the  buoyancy  of  youth,  health,  and  happiness — 

*  By  Jesse  Lynch  Williams. 
21* 


246  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

was  a  robber!  For  one  black,  blinding  minute,  he  hated 
him  !  For  a  longer  minute,  he  stood,  balancing  the 
inclination  to  abandon  the  purpose  that  had  brought 
him  hither,  against  the  remembrance  of  what  he  had 
decided,  before  leaving  home,  to  be  duty,  based  upon 
the  best  thing  a  mortal  creature  can  know  as  faith  and 
practice, — self-sacrifice  for  another's  weal.  With  head 
bared  to  the  dank  darkness  of  the  dumb  night, 'he 
prayed  briefly  and  wordlessly, — a  cry  out  of  the  depths 
beneath  to  the  depths  above, — and  walked  quickly 
to  the  door. 

His  knock  was  unheeded  by  the  gay  company  within. 
Francis  was  singing  again — a  rollicking  roundelay, 
with  an  accompaniment  all  run  and  sparkle.  Three  or 
four  servants  had  stolen  to  the  closed  door  of  the  draw 
ing-room  to  listen  to  the  music,  and  one  answered  Mr. 
Fontaine's  summons. 

"Show  me  into  Mr.  Harrison's  office!"  he  said. 
"I  see  that  they  are  getting  cake  and  wine  ready  in 
the  dining-room.  When  you  take  it  into  the  drawing- 

O  »'  O 

room,  manage  to  let  Mr.  Francis  know  that  some  one 
wishes  to  see  him.  Say  'some  one/  and  .let  nobody 
hear  you  excepting  himself.  Do  not  give  my  name." 

The  fellow  was  quick-witted.  Mr.  Fontaine  had  not 
to  wait  many  minutes  in  the  host's  "  study"  or  "  office," 
environed  by  law-books,  tobacco-boxes,  pipes  and  stop 
pers,  guns,  stirrups,  walking-sticks,  a  fox's  head,  a 
deer's  antlers,  pistols  and  holsters,  a  cavalry-sword 
and  spurs, — when  a  light  step  rang  upon  the  floor  of 
the  passage,  and  the  Englishman  entered. 

He  brought  in  with  him  a  breath  of  the  presence  he 
had  left.  The  faint  incense  of  balsamic  woods,  the  smell 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  247 

of  flowers,  the  bouquet  of  the  rare  old  wine  he  had 
quaffed, — hung  in  his  garments  and  bright  hair.  The 
smile  had  not  passed  from  his  mouth,  or  the  flush  from 
his  face. 

"  Mr.  Fontaine  !"  he  cried,  hurrying  forward  with 
extended  hand.  "  I  did  not  look  for  this  pleasure  ! 
The  servant's  speech  of  '  some  one  who  would  see  me/ 
misled  me." 

"  He  but  discharged  himself  faithfully  of  the  message 
committed  to  him,  my  lord." 

Fontaine  had  bowed  respectfully,  not  seeming  to 
observe  the  offered  hand.  Still  standing,  one  arm 
cast  behind  his  back,  the  hand  of  the  other  in  his 
breast,  his  soldierly  figure  erect,  he  sustained  calmly 
the  piercing  inquiry  of  the  startled  eyes,  as  the  title 
met  the  ears  of  the  peer. 

"  You  come  from  Westover,  then  !"  the  debonair  air 
giving  way  to  serious  anxiety. 

"  Not  directly,  my  lord.  But,  as  you  have  divined, 
my  errand  has  to  do  with  that  which  nearly  concerns 
my  friends  there — and  yourself." 

The  young  nobleman  put  his  arm  about  the  rector's 
shoulders,  with  a  frank  and  most  engaging  smile. 

"  Come,  Mr.  Fontaine !  let  us  sit  down  and  talk 
together  as  befits  the  good  friends  we  have  grown  to 
be  in  these  last  four  weeks  of  daily  companionship. 
No  '  my  lording,'  and  no  diplomatic  beating  about  the 
bush.  Until  I  leave  this,  I  am  Charles  Francis,  and 
the  nature  of  my  business  in  this  country  is  known  to 
none  but  the  few  who  can  be  intrusted  with  the  secret. 
You  will  take  my  word  for  it  that  I  am  right  glad  to 
reckon  you  in  the  number — and  second  to  none.  I 


HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

confess  that  my  impulse  upon  perceiving  you  here" — 
with  a  light-hearted  laugh — "  was  to  ask,  '  Come  you 
in  peace  or  in  war?'  But  the  second  glance  assured 
me  on  that  score.  You  were  at  Westover  to-day  noon. 
Was  word  of  any  sort  sent  to  me  from  thence  ?" 

"None  there  knew  of  my  purpose  of  coming  hither. 
Nor  was  it  a  purpose  until  an  hour  ago.  How  knew 
you  of  my  visit  to  West  over  ?" 

Francis  laughed  again.  The  excitement — even  the 
suspense  of  this  critical  period  of  his  life — quickened  his 
blood  pleasantly.  Lord  Orrery  had  written  truly  that 
the  fondness  for  adventure  was  transmitted  with  his 
grandfather's  blood  and  title.  He  would  have  headed 
a  hopeless  charge  with  a  cheer,  ridden  gallantly,  his 
blue  eyes  unclouded,  upon  a  belching  battery. 

"  As  one  of  us,  you  should  know  that  the  incom 
parable  Mistress  Lotsie  walked  boldly  into  the  lion's 
mouth — or  at  least  his  den — this  morning;  by  a  coup 
d'etat  gained  the  heart  of  the  citadel.  Caliban  was 
here  at  sunrise  with  despatches  apprising  us  that  war 
had  been  declared  and  that  there  was  menace  of  a 
blockade.  Whereupon,  that  admirable  friend  of  her 
species  departed  straightway  for  the  enemy's  country. 
She  went  by  way  of  church-yard  and  river-road  across 
the  lawn,  right  in  at  the  front  door,  and  hearing  the 
rattle  of  cups  and  sound  of  voices  in  the  breakfast- 
room,  took  her  way  up  to  Miss  Byrd's  chamber,  where 
she  tarried,  closeted  with  the  occupant  thereof  for  four 
hours.  For  fear  of  implicating  Mrs.  Byrd,  and  thereby 
causing  trouble  with  her  husband,  that  dear  and  worthy 
lady  was  riot  taken  into  confidence.  Our  valiant  emis 
sary  escaped  from  the  premises  while  you  were  in  the 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  249 

library  with  Madam.  The  puzzle  is  simple  enoughj 
you  see. 

"  I  wish  to  heaven" — a  shade  falling  upon  his  ani 
mated  countenance — "  that  all  others  pertaining  to  this 
affair  were  as  easily  solved.  Or,  that  the  brunt  of  the 
battle  fell  upon  me.  I  swear  to  you,  Mr.  Fontaine, 
that  when  I  think  what  is  laid  upon  the  delicate,  sen 
sitive  being  I  would  fain  shield  from  every  breeze  of 
adversity,  I  am  driven  past  my  patience  and  well-nigh 
out  of  my  wits.  It  is  small  matter  for  marvel  that  I 
should  gird  at  the  needless  delay  of  so  much  as  a  day 
in  releasing  her  from  tyranny  and  captivity  fitter  for 
the  Middle  Ages  than  this  most  Christian  century.  I 
had  a  few  lines  from  her  by  the  hand  of  our  faithful 
Mistress  Lotsie." 

His  hand  moved  toward  his  bosom  never  so  slightly, 
but  Fontaine  felt  sure  that  the  billet  layover  his  heart. 
As  himself  had  but  yesternight  borne  home  the  flower 
that  had  fallen  from  her  hair  ! 

"  She  is  unconquered — and  unconquerable  !"  con 
tinued  the  lover's  softening  tones,  a  beautiful  light 
flooding  his  eyes.  "  She  does  not  even  say  to  me  that 
she  suffers,  lest  I  should  have  the  more  to  bear  for  the 
knowledge.  Mistress  Lotsie  tells  me  that  she  is  as  pale 
as  a  lily,  though  heroic  as  Joan  of  Arc.  I  likened  her 
Monday  night  to  a  lily  among  thorns.  If  only  I  might 
gather  the  thorns  into  one  sheaf,  as  Arnold  von  Winkel- 
ricd  the  foemen's  spears,  and  sheathe  the  barbs  in  my 
bosom,  that  she  might  go  unscathed  !  Show  me  a  way 
by  which  to  do  this,  my  dear  friend," — letting  his  hand 
fall  to  his  companion's  knee, — "and  I  am  forever  your 
grateful  debtor !" 


250  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  I  would  that  I  could  !"  in  sincerity  that  was  almost 
vehement.  "  I  fear  me  there  lie  yet  severer  trials  before 
her — even  a  siege  that  would  chafe  to  breaking  a  spirit 
less  finely  tempered.  Her  father  is  inexorable." 

"  Therefore,  we  shall  not  adventure  his  displeasure 
needlessly.  He  will  be  forced  to  hearken  to  no  more 
prayers  from  his  child,  to  no  further  arguments  from 
me.  Unless  he  bind  her,  hand  and  foot,  she  will  come 
to  me  before  another  week  goes  by,  and,  hand-in-hand, 
we  will  voyage  toward  the  rising  sun." 

In  a  few  sentences  he  narrated  the  incident  of  the 
afternoon,  and  how  like  the  finger  of  fate  had  seemed 
the  rencounter  with  the  captain  of  the  schooner. 

"  A  trig  little  craft,  and  not  incommodious.  I  half- 
suspect  that  my  burly  sea-dog  would  not  rise  superior 
to  the  temptation  of  contraband  tobacco  and  spirits, 
were  the  chance  offered  him  of  running  them  safely 
into  an  English  port.  I  trust  to  make  him  accept  other 
freight  better  worth  risk  and  trouble." 

The  end  was  then,  so  near  !     Something  hammered 

/  o 

fast  at  the  base  of  Fontaine's  brain  ;  the  hand  he  passed 
across  his  mouth  was  chill,  and  strange  prickles  were 
creeping  over  the  back  of  it. 

"  I  fancy  that  I  know  vessel  and  man,"  he  said, 
choosing  his  words  with  precision.  "  Is  she  not  The 
Mocking-Birdj  and  is  not  her  master  a  thick-set  man  of 
forty  years,  with  a  decided  cast  in  the  left  eye  ?" 

"  The  very  man — and  the  name  of  the  schooner  !  Is 
he,  then,  respectable,  and  not  blackguard  ?" 

"  Respectable  enough,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge. 
He  ran  away  to  sea  when  a  lad,  and  led  a  roving  life 
until  he  was  'past  thirty,  sometimes  not  revisiting  his 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  251 

home  in  Williamsburg  for  years  at  a  time.  Latterly, 
he  has  settled  down  into  the  owner  and  master  of  a 
trading-vessel.  This  is  the  story  I  have  from  his 
mother,  who  is  my  parishioner  it  is  now  three  years, 
and  a  decent  body,  but  stone-blind.  The  Blocking-Bird 
was  bought  from  Colonel  Byrd  two  years  ago,  and, 
having  been  built  to  his  order,  is  stanch  and  sea 
worthy." 

"  I  could  wish,  of  course,"  resumed  the  other,  the 
tender  light  lingering  in  his  eyes,  "  that  my  bonny  bird 
had  a  daintier  cage  ;  but,  the  voyage  over,  I  can  make 
amends  for  discomfort  and  privation.  We  shall  put  in 
at  Norfolk  for  such  matters  as  that  small  seaport  can 
supply  toward  softening  prison-fare.  The  Mocking- 
Bird  weighs  anchor  Monday  at  midnight,  the  tide 
serving  then.  Mr.  Harrison  will,  on  that  afternoon, 
privately  procure  a  marriage  license. The  law  re 
quires  this,  does  it  not?"  he  interrupted  himself  to  ask 
at  something  he  saw  in  the  other's  face. 

"  Before  you  say  further,  let  me  explain  what  brought 
me  hither." 

Fontaine  drew  away,  involuntarily,  and  the  caressing 
hand  slipped  from  his  knee.  Powerful  as  was  the 
Englishman's  personal  magnetism, — admit,  though  the 
unavowed  lover  must  and  did,  the  sincerity  of  his 
devotion  to  his  intended  bride,  and  the  ingenuous  man 
liness  of  every  utterance, — the  bruised  heart  flinched , 
under  the  increasing  pressure.  It  was  not  easy  for  the 
self-contained  master  of  himself  to  lend  patient  heed  to 
the  details  of  that  which  would  beggar  him  forever. 
The  effort  to  hide  his  hurt  constrained  his  manner  to 
coldness. 


252  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Among  the  arguments  adduced  by  Colonel  Byrd 
why  this  union  should  not  take  place  was  the  positive 
assertion  that,  in  your  eyes,  the  solemnization  of  the 
marriage  by  a  Protestant  clergyman  would  have  no 
binding  force  whatsoever.  If  I  add,  in  what  may  seem 
but  bald  parlance,  that  which  her  mother  furthermore 
confided  to  me,  you  will  comprehend  that  sincerest 
regard  for  her  whom  you  seek  to  marry  moves  me  to 
plainness  of  speech.  There  is  no  clergyman  of  your 
communion  within  one  hundred  miles  of  this.  The 
endeavor  to  procure  one  would  be  attended  with  incon 
venience  and  loss  of  time  that  would  be  warning  and 
gain  of  time  to  Colonel  Byrd.  As  a  minister  of  GOD'S 
word,  I  must  remind  you,  my  lord,  that  should  you 
esteem  the  Church  of  England  form  of  marriage 
maimed  rites,  and  the  obligation  thus  imposed  null  and 
void  in  conscience  and  in  law,  you  have  no  right  to 
desecrate  what  is  to  you  a  sacrament,  by  an  empty  form 
of  words.  To  wed  a  woman  here  and  thus  for  the 
satisfaction  of  her  conscience,  and  to  voyage  with  her 
to  England,  even  with  the  intention  of  having  the 
marriage  solemnized  there  in  such  fashion  as  accords 
with  your  faith,  would  sully  her  fame  in  the  eyes  of 
your  compatriots  and  fellow-religionists.  Miss  Byrd 
has  no  elder  brother.  I  am  here  in  the  stead  of  one  to 
institute  inquiry  into  what  nearly  affects  her  honor  and 
happiness." 

Lord  Peterborough  was  upon  his  feet,  his  face  dark 
ening  haughtily. 

"  I  am  glad  to  know  that  the  inquiry  is  of  your  and 
Mrs.  Byrd's  institution.  Had  you  intimated  that  her 
daughter  had  part  or  lot  in  it,  I  should  have  flung  a 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  253 

denial  into  your  teeth.  She  knows — and" — reproach 
fully — "  I  had  hoped  you,  also,  that  I  would  go  back 
to  England  as  I  came — alone — sooner  than  have  my 
wife's  fair  fame  overcast  by  the  shadow  of  a  shade. 
Colonel  Byrd  is  a  citizen  of  the  world  and  a  man  of 
honor.  That  he  has  put  forward  this  damnable  insinu 
ation  is  but  one  proof  the  more  of  the  inveterate  hatred 
he  bears  my  father's  son.  Miss  Jaqueline  may  surely 
be  trusted  to  be  jealous  for  her  friend's  reputation. 
Before  we  left  Jamestown,  in  hopeful  anticipation  of 
this  contingency,  she  had  opened  correspondence  with  a 
venerable  French  abbe  resident  in  Norfolk.  She  will, 
herself,  company  down  the  river  with  us,  and  with  her 
duenna  witness  the  second  ceremony  legalized  by  a 
license  taken  out  in  that  town.  We  shall,  then,  be 
beyond  Colonel  Byrd's  jurisdiction  and  such  violent 
measures  as  he  might  set  on  foot  in  a  neighborhood 
where  his  will  is  law." 

"If  this  be  your  design,  why  risk  discovery  by  the 
license  in  this  county  and  the  Protestant  ceremony  ? 
To  the  conscience  of  a  Church  of  England  communi 
cant,  the  service  uttered  in  GOD'S  name  by  the  lips  of 
an  ordained  clergyman,  of  whatever  creed,  would  be 
sacredly  binding." 

The  young  peer  came  nearer,  a  smile  of  extreme 
sweetness  on  his  lips,  his  eyes  soft  and  bright.  Laying 
one  hand  on  the  rector's  shoulder,  he  brought  him  face- 
to-face  by  grasping  the  hand  hanging,  cold  and  passive, 
by  Fontaine's  side. 

"  Cannot  you  guess,  dear  friend  ?  Would  I  bear 
away  my  bride  and  leave  unsatisfied  one  desire  that  I 

could  fulfil  ?     She  loves  her  church  as  I  love  mine. 

22 


254  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Shall  I  cast  dishonor  upon  that  church  by  seeming  to 
scorn  her  ordinances?  Have  you  known  me  so  im 
perfectly  as  not  to  divine  that  the  first  ceremony  would 
suffice  for  me, — heart,  soul,  and  mind  ?  The  second 
is  for  the  world  of  carping  scandal-mongers.  The  first 
gives  me  my  wife!  for  richer,  for  poorer,  for  better,  for 
worse,  so  long  as  we  both  shall  live.  And  these  words 
I  know,  dear  Mr.  Fontaine,  Evelyn  would  have  you 
utter  above  her  head.  Your  benediction  will  best  atone 
to  her  for  the  loss  of  her  father's  blessing,  the  lack  of 
a  mother's  kiss.  Are  you  satisfied?" 

Pallor  such  as  overspread  the  face  he  gazed  upon 
he  had  never  seen  except  upon  the  cheek  of  the  dead. 
The  form  almost  within  his  embrace  swayed  slightly  ; 
the  eyes  closed  for  a  second  under  knotted  brows. 
When  they  opened,  their  misty  agony  was  alarm  and 
mystery  to  him.  The  mouth  moved  twice  before  words 
would  come  : 

"  You  ask  much  !     But  I  will  do  it !" 

"  Am  I  selfish,  then  ?"  queried  the  other,  perplex 
edly.  "  Would  your  action,  were  it  discovered,  bring 
about  a  rupture  with  Colonel  Byrd  ?  I  would  not 
injure  you  with  him " 

A  gesture,  haughty  to  disdain,  replied  before  Fon 
taine  spoke : 

"  I  care  naught  for  what  he — for  what  any  man 
may  say  or  do!  Since  this  is  her  wish,  what  else 
should  avail  ?" 

"  I  thank  you  in  her  name  and  in  my  own.  I 
ought,  perhaps,  to  grieve  somewhat" — the  moved  smile 
again  touching  lips  and  eyes — "  to  rob  Virginia  of  her 
rarest  jewel.  And  she  has  told  me  once  and  again  of 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  255 

the  love  and  reverence  she  bears  yourself.  How  your 
brotherly  sympathy  and  advice  have  been  balm  and 
strength  to  her  in  the  hours  of  need — and  they,  pure 
soul !  have  been  but  too  many  !  Of  the  sweet  counsel 
you  have  held  together " 

"  For  GOD'S  sake,  no  more  !" 

The  ejaculation  tore  like  a  bullet  into  the  hearer's 
brain  as  it  had  torn  from  the  anguished  soul — -and  he 
was  alone ! 

When  the  rushing  shock  of  amazement  and  com 
passion  suffered  him  to  pursue  Fontaine  in  the  swift 
retreat  to  the  outer  entrance,  he  was  just  in  time  to  hear 
the  thud  of  a  horse's  hoofs  down  the  avenue  leading  to 
the  highway. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

"  LOOKY  hyur,  Ann'  Isy  !  I  don'  wan'  ter  be  cross 
long-a  you,  an'  I  don'  keer  fur  to  cuar'  no  tales  inter 
de  house,  so  you  better  lemrne  off  er  holpin'  seed  deni 
'ar  grapes  ter  night !" 

Caliban  said  it  judicially,  leaning  half  his  length 
upon  one  end  of  the  kitchen-table,  his  face  golden- 
bronze  in  the  flare  of  lightwood  torches  stuck  into  iron 
sockets  at  the  mouth  of  the  chimney.  At  the  other 
end  of  the  table  loomed  up  the  white  turban  of  the 
Egyptian  deity,  her  fat  arms  bared  to  the  shoulders. 
Before  her  were  bowls  and  pans ;  beyond  them  was  a 
mountain  of  fox-grapes,  filling  the  room  with  true 
Falernian  fragrance.  Along  each  side  of  the  board 
were  ranged  five  sad-eyed  assistants,  boy  and  girls, 


256  HM   GREAT  SELF. 

furnished  with  small,  keen  knives,  with  which  each 
grape  was  to  be  halved,  then  seeded,  with  as  little 
waste  of  juice  as  might  be.  Caliban  had,  at  the  peti 
tion  of  Isis,  been  excused  from  house-duties  directly 
after  supper  that  he  might  bear  a  distinguished  part  in 
the  task.  His  deft  fingers  made  him  invaluable  in  the 
finer  offices  of  kitchen  and  pantry ;  his  saucy  chatter 
kept  the  young  laborers  awake  and  enlivened  the  spirits 
of  the  elder.  He  lied  as  fast  as  he  could  talk,  as  every 
body  knew ;  but  the  tales  of  which  he  was  invariably 
the  hero,  were  none  the  less  entertaining  for  that,  while 
his  prankish  humors  were  an  increasing  source  of  ex 
citement  to  the  mates  who  envied,  while  they  had  not 
the  hardihood  to  imitate  the  tricks  that  earned  him 
many  a  "  lick"  from  clothes-stick  or  rolling-pin. 

"An'  you  looky  hyur,  you  imp  o'  Satan  !"  retorted 
the  mistress  of  ceremonies ;  "  I  aint  got  no  time  fur  to 
steddy  'bout  no  sort  o'  sassiuess  you  got  in  you'  hade. 
Mistis  done  been  give  me  my  orders  fur  ter  git  all  dese 
yer  grapes  stone'  by  bade-time  so's  she  ken  see  de  sugar 
put  wid  'em  fo'  she  go  to  sleep,  an'  set  'bout  her  mar- 
merled  early  in  de  mawnin'.  An'  I  ain'  got  more  'n 
haff  han's  'nuff  fur  ter  git  de  \vuk  done — not  ef  ebcry 
one  o'  dese  yer  lazy  niggers  was  to  wuk  ten  thousan' 
time  mo'  harder  'n'  dey  eber  did  in  all  dey  born  libes. 
Soon's  Mistis  done  tole  me  what  she  wan'  done,  I  jes' 
step  out  dar  in  the  grabe-yard  'n'  cut  dis  nice  little 
slip  oifen  a  honey-locus'  tree  whar  growed  'pon  a  grabe. 
Dar  ain'  nothin'  like  a  stick  whar's  growed  outen  a 
dade  pusson  fur  to  make  folks  wuk." 

She  exhibited  a  long  wand,  pleasingly  adorned  with 
bark  and  stubs. 


JUS   GREAT  SELF.  257 

"  I  k  no  wed  who  'ould  be  de  fus'  one  ter  ketch  it, 
too !  Take  you'  lazy  copper-colored  karcuss  off  er  dat 
7ar  table,  'n'  set  'bout  you'  wuk,  or  I'll  limber  it  outer 
you'  hide,  you  Ingin  puppy,  you  !" 

Caliban  dragged  himself  up  without  indecent  haste. 

"  Now,  Ann'  Isy,  you  know  I'm  better  at  dodgin' 
'n  you  is  at  hittin',  an'  you  don'  wan'  ter  w'ar  you'self 
out  a-chasin'  roun'  arter  grease'  lightnin'.  Ef  you  do, 
good-by  to  de  grapes  !" 

Infuriated  by  the  snicker  running  down  the  table, 
Isis  started  up,  shillalah  in  hand,  Caliban  sidling 
toward  the  door  as  she  advanced  upon  him.  He 
eluded  a  well-directed  blow  by  leaping  backward  down 
the  steps,  and,  keeping  at  a  prudent  distance,  began  a 
low-toned  parley  with  his  foster-mother. 

"I  couldn'  say  it  in  dar  whar  (ley  is,  Mam'  Isy," 
wheedling  and  important;  "but  I  'dar  fo'  gracious 
dat  I  is  jis'  obleege'  fur  ter  look  arter  sompin'  petickler 
ter  night.  Dar's  de  debbil  ter  pay,  an'  dis  yer  nigger 
is  wanted  fur  ter  keep  de  pitch  hot.  Dat's  a  fac' !  I'll 
tell  you  all  'bout  it  Chuesday  mornin'.  Ef  I  don'  git 
off  ter  night,  dar  won'  be  nothin'  ter  tell." 

The  swart  Eve  loved  scandal  better  than  her  own 
ease.  She  raised  her  voice,  backing  toward  the  kitchen 
steps,— 

"Well,  go  'long!  Ef  Mis'  Evelyn  wan'  you,  I  ain' 
got  nothin'  fur  ter  say.  I  been  hyur  somebody  callin' 
f'om  de  up-sta'rs  winder,  but  you  tell  Mis'  Evelyn  I 
hadn'  no  notion  'twas  her,  or  I'd  a  sont  you  right 
straight  off.  Tell  her  I  mighty  sorry  I  been  keep  you 
so  long,  an'  ef  she  please,  ma'am,  fur  ter  sen'  you  back 
soon's  she  done  wid  you !" 

r  22* 


258  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Caliban  heard  but  four  words  of  the  sentence  of 
release,  a  matter  of  no  consequence,  since  it  was  con 
cocted  and  delivered  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  dis 
appointed  crew  within  doors. 

Bass  had  gone  out  this  evening,  unperceived  by  him, 
but  he  counted  upon  the  time  lounged  away  by  the 
secretary  over  his  pipe  in  the  church-yard,  and  was 
not  uneasy  until,  stealing  down  to  the  lower  gate,  he 
missed  the  red  spark  under  the  trees,  and  creeping 
nearer,  saw  that  the  tombstone  whereupon  Colin  usually 
enjoyed  the  "  bewitching  vegetable"  was  empty.  Cali 
ban  made  a  cautious  circuit  of  the  little  chapel,  keeping 
close  against  the  wall,  peered,  in  the  starlight,  behind 
every  tree,  and  was  returning,  baffled,  upon  his  track, 
when  his  name  was  called  softly. 

"  Sh  !  sh  !  I  thought  it  was  you  !"  whispered  Martha 
Jaqueline,  emerging  from  the  denser  shades  of  the 
grove.  She  was  attended  by  a  lanker  and  taller  shape 
Caliban  knew  for  Miss  Lotsie. 

"  I  can  trust  you  to  the  world's  end !"  pursued 
Martha.  "  Here  is  something  for  you !"  pressing  a 
coin  into  his  hand.  "  Run  to  the  house  as  fast  as  you 
can  race,  and  tell  your  Mis'  Evelyn  (let  nobody  hear 
you  !)  that  the  course  is  clear.  You  understand  ?" 

"  Ya'as,  ma'am  !  but  Mis'  Marthy,  ef  you  please, 
ma'am,  Mr.  Buss  he  smoke  he  pipe  hyur  mos'  ebery 
night !" 

She  laughed. 

"  Good  boy  !  I  saw  him  not  ten  minutes  ago.  He's 
off  on  patrol-duty  in  another  direction.  Now,  run  !" 

He  was  off  like  a  kill-deer,  and  half-way  up  the 
main  alley  of  the  garden  almost  ran  against  his  young 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  259 

mistress,  hastening  in  the  direction  of  the  church-yard. 
She  said  nothing  in  response  to  his  breathless  message, 
but  he  ran  ahead  to  open  the  gate  at  the  end  of  the 
walk  for  her,  saw  her  pass  through  into  the  gloom  that 
swallowed  up  the  cloaked  and  hooded  form,  and  recol 
lected  how  much  time  he  had  lost  by  the  little  adven 
ture. 

Bass  had  gone  on  patrol-duty,  Miss  Jaqueline  had 
said.  Caliban  knew  better,  and  took  a  bee-line  for  the 
spot  where  the  boat  was  beached  last  night.  The  even 
ing  was  fine  and  dry,  and  the  water  would  be  chilly, 
but  he  would  track  the  thieving  traitor  at  the  risk  of 
cold  and  cramp.  As  he  ran  down  the  bank,  regardless 
of  the  precautions  he  had  observed  when  Bass  was 
certainly  but  a  few  feet  before  him,  he  grinned  to 
think  how  "  Mis'  Marthy  had  fooled  Marster."  That 
something  had  marred  the  cordial  relations  existing 
heretofore  between  the  Berkeley  and  Westover  house 
holds  was  an  open  secret  in  the  kitchen  council.  That 
it  had  to  do  with  Miss  Jaqueline,  and,  incidentally, 
with  her  sweetheart,  was  almost  certain.  Miss  Evelyn 
was  greatly  afflicted  by  the  separation  from  her  dearest 
friend,  and  the  servants'  sympathy  was  entirely  with 
her.  Every  one  of  the  house-servants  was  cognizant 
of  Miss  Lotsie's  stolen  visits,  and  nobody  would  have 
betrayed  it,  under  the  lash,  to  Colonel  or  Mrs.  Byrd. 
It  was  natural,  to  Caliban's  understanding,  that  the 
young  ladies  should  meet  by  stealth,  and  simple  loyalty 
on  his  part  to  afford  them  every  facility  in  his  power. 

Otherwise,  he  could  have  cursed  the  encounter  that 
had  cost  him  the  chagrin  of  finding  the  landing-place 
deserted.  He  strained  his  ears  for  the  beat  of  oars. 


2GO  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

The  lap  of  water  running  inshore  before  the  fresh 
breeze  would  have  drowned  the  sound  had  the  muffled 
rowlocks  been  within  a  rod  of  land.  Far  down  the 
river  he  saw  a  spark  like  a  star, — a  lantern  hung  to  the 
yard-arm  of  a  vessel  riding  at  anchor.  This  might  be 
the  smuggling-craft  awaiting  laden  boats  from  plan 
tations  on  both  sides  of  the  stream.  It  would  round 
off  his  plot  handsomely  if  he  could  have  certain  proof 
that  Bass  was  tampering  with  overseers  and  negroes 
from  other  places  as  well  as  robbing  his  own  employer. 

Anyhow,  he  would  have  a  nearer  look  at  that 
schooner.  A  tough  river-rat  like  himself  need  not  be 
afraid  of  a  cold  "bath,  however  strongly  his  predilections 
might  set  in  favor  of  water  with  the  chill  taken  off. 
He  stripped,  and  stepped  into  the  lapping  stream. 

"  What  are  you  about,  you  rascal  ?" 

The  speaker  was  Colonel  Byrd.  He  sat  at  ease  upon 
a  fallen  tree,  his  figure  undistinguishable  in  the  dark 
ness  from  the  fringe  of  bushes  at  his  back. 

The  lad  leaped  back  to  shore,  shaking,  as  in  a  tertian 
ague,  but  ready  with  a  lie. 

"  I  wor  goin'  fur  ter  take  a  wash,  suh.     Dat's  all !" 

"  Since  when  have  you  been  so  fond  of  cleanliness? 
I  have  a  great  mind  to  make  you  scrub  with  soap-and- 
sand,  and  then  dry  you  off  with  a  hickory-towel. 
Don't  you  know  better  than  to  lie  to  me?" 

"  Ya'as,  Marster  !"  miserably  penitent,  rooted  as  mo 
tionless  in  the  sand  as  Cleopatra's  Needle  in  the  desert. 

"  Speak  the  truth,  then,  if  you  can  !  Why  are  you 
here?  and  whither  were  you  going?" 

The  obelisk  had  an  impulse  that  turned  it  as  upon  a 
pivot. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  261 

"  I  won'  tell  you  no  lie,  suli !  I  wor  a-goin'  fur  ter 
swim  out  ober  yarnder" — pointing  up  the  stream — "  fur 
ter  look  arter  a  net  I  see  one  o'  de  fiel'  ban's  a-settin* 
ter-day  fur  ter  catch  catfish  an'  eels." 

He  knew  by  his  master's  tone  that  he  smiled. 

"  In  other  words,  you  were  about  to  steal  another 
man's  fish !  Don't  you  get  enough  to  eat  in  my 
kitchen  ?" 

"  Ya'as,  Marster  !"  shamefacedly. 

"  So  you  steal  for  the  love  of  stealing  ?  Come  hither, 
you  young  villain  !  Take  that !  and  that !  and  that  ! 
You  are  the  fellow  I  heard  boasting  under  my  window, 
last  Sunday,  that  he  knew  the  Ten  Commandments  by 
heart  !" 

Whack!  whack!  whack!  whack  !  whack!  WHACK  ! 
WHACK!  WHACK! 

"  That  is  to  teach  you  that  *  Thou  shalt  not  steal'  is 
Number  Eight.  You'll  get  thirty-one  more  the  next 
time  you  are  caught  in  such  a  mean  piece  of  deviltry 
as  thieving  from  afield-hand!  I  thought  you  had  too 
much  pride  for  such  a  low  trick  !" 

The  cane  was  of  lance-wood  and  well  seasoned,  and 
the  boy  cried  out  sharply,  but  not  loudly,  at  each  cut 
upon  his  naked  body.  He  sobbed  ostentatiously  when 
accorded  permission  to  "  get  himself  into  his  clothes, 
and  begone  to  the  house." 

"  Hold  that  snivelling !"  ordered  the  Master,  whose 
tone  throughout  the  episode  had  not  evinced  the  least 
heat  or  discomposure.  Indeed,  Caliban  suspected  that 
he  was  not  sorry  to  kill  some  minutes  of  waste  time  in 
what  fell  so  opportunely  in  his  way. 

"  Ya'as,  suh  !"  with  a  strangled  sob. 


262  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

He  gulped  up  another,  and  a  third,  mingled  with 
an  artistic  whimper,  in  climbing  by  the  shortest  route 
to  the  upper  grounds.  Then — perhaps  because  the 
grass  was  cool  and  his  back  was  hot — he  lay  flat  down  at 
a  convenient  distance  from  the  path  by  which  his  master 
must  mount,  and  waited  to  see  why  the  latter  was 
keeping  watch  on  the  river's  brink,  alone  and  by  night. 

He  was  as  fast  asleep  as  an  "  Indian  puppy"  ever 
sleeps,  when  the  jar  of. feet  vibrated  upon  his  sensitive 
tympanum. 

Colonel  Byrd  spoke  when  opposite  the  prostrate 
listener. 

"  He  can  answer  for  his  crew?" 

"  To  a  man,  sir.  He  has  a  tight  hold  upon  every 
one  of  them,"  replied  Bass.  "  Most  of  them  are  never 
quite  easy  when  on  shore — for  reasons  best  known  to 
themselves  and  the  captain." 

"  It  is  settled  that  the  mails  are  to  be  brought — not 
sent — aboard  ?" 

"  It  was  the  passenger's  own  proposal.  He  will,  at  the 
same  time,  make  certain  final  arrangements  of  which  he 
could  not  talk  this  afternoon.  '  If  a  friend — or  two — 
were  to  accompany  him  to  Norfolk,  he  supposed  there 
would  be  no  objection.  And  if  he  should  take  aboard 
another  passenger  at  Norfolk  for  the  whole  voyage?' 
The  Captain  said,  'There  would  be  no  objection  so 
long  as  the  passenger  was  quiet  and  peaceable,  and 
willing  to  pay  well  for  good  accommodations.'  The 
answer  was  that  the  respondent  would  be  responsible 
for  all  that.  The  Captain  reports  that  the  respondent 
was  mightily  amused  by  the  questions  as  to  peaceable 
disposition  and  so  on." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  263 

" him  !"  muttered  the  Colonel,  angrily. 

"  Yes,  sir  !  The  matter  would  seem  to  have  arranged 
itself  with  little  interference  from  us " 

Caliban  could  wriggle  through  supple  grasses  like  a 
snake,  but  bushes  would  rustle,  and  these  lined  the 
footpath  from  the  top  of  the  bank  to  the  river-wall. 
The  safer  course  was  to  cut  diagonally  across  the  inter 
vening  ground,  scale  the  wall  and  reach  the  house 
before  the  Master  and  his  secretary  entered. 

The  pair,  thus  left  behind,  became  taciturn  when  the 
level  was  gained,  perhaps  from  thought,  perhaps  from 
prudence.  Their  route  skirted  the  church-yard,  and  in 
the  brilliant  starlight  reflected  from  the  river,  they  could 
have  threaded  their  way  among  trees  and  tombs  but  for 
the  forgotten  circumstance  that  a  grave  had  been  filled 
that  day  in  the  lower  section  of  the  cemetery  devoted 
to  family  servants.  A  superannuated  seamstress  had 
died  yesterday,  and  been  buried  this  afternoon.  Beside 
the  mound  stood  a  wheelbarrow,  with  pick  and  spades 
laid  within  it,  and  all  were  veiled  by  the  shade  of  a 
honey-locust.  Colonel  Byrd  had  passed  them  safely  by 
a  step  or  two,  when  his  companion's  shins  collided  vio 
lently  with  the  front  of  the  barrow,  and  he  pitched 
forward  into  it,  upsetting  it  and  the  contents.  In 
attempting  to  regain  his  balance,  he  fell  over  the  pile 
of  moist  red  clay,  floundering  there,  head  downward, 
until  the  Colonel,  hastening  to  extricate  him,  discovered 
that  the  trestled  bier  on  which  the  body  had  been  trans 
ported  to  its  last  home,  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
grave,  and  oddly  entangled  with  the  legs  of  the  strug 
gling  figure. 

Colonel  Byrd  was  courteous  and  humane  to  a  proverb, 


264  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

but  his  sense  of  the  humorous  was  too  finely  developed 
to  permit  the  maintenance  of  gravity  in  the  situation. 
His  mellow,  irresistibly-contagious  laugh,  first  a  ripple, 
then  a  surge,  lastly  a  billow  of  merriment — swept  over 
the  humbler  graves  to  the  marble-topped  constructions 
above  the  dead  Byrds,  and  was  heard  by  two  people 
sitting  on  the  chancel-steps,  their  feet  upon  the  slab 
covering  the  remains  of  Theodorick  Bland,  the  builder 
of  the  family  chapel. 

There  was  enough  light  from  the  stars  to  show  the 
windows  as  glimmering  oblongs  set  high  in  the  walls, 
not  enough  to  reveal  the  movement  with  which  Evelyn 
Byrd  cast  herself  into  her  lover's  arms,  and  the  defiant 
air  with  which,  holding  her  fast,  he  looked  toward  the 
door. 

"Hush  !"  whispered  Martha  Jaqueline  from  her  seat 
in  the  pew  nearest  the  porch.  "  The  door  is  locked 
on  the  inside!  We  have  but  to  remain  perfectly 
quiet !" 

The  Colonel's  shout  to  the  neighboring  quarters  fol 
lowed  his  laugh  : 

"  Halloo !  some  of  you  fellows  there !  fetch  hither  a 
light !" 

The  flicker  of  lightwood  flambeaux  ruddied  the 
glass  on  the  lower  side  of  the  church,  illuminating 
dimly  the  tableau  in  front  of  the  altar  :  a  woman 
whose  face  was  as  pale  as  her  gown,  with  her  arms 
about  the  neck  of  a  man  who  had  involuntarily 
clapped  his  hand  upon  his  sword-hip.  They  moved 
not  during  the  brief  while  in  which  the  hubbub 
of  voices  went  on  outside ;  then  the  torch-light 
moved  along  the  opposite  wall,  and  the  Master  was 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  265 

heard,  right  under  the  windows,  ordering  the  bearers 
back. 

"Let  the  fellow  who  left  that  wheelbarrow  and  bier 
there  report  himself  to  Mr.  Booker  to-morrow !  I 
wish  he  had  tumbled  over  them,  instead  of  Mr.  Bass, 
and  broken  his  own  neck  to  boot!" 

The  danger  over,  Evelyn  trembled  like  a  leaf  in  a 
storm. 

"  The  peril  is  too  great !"  she  faltered,  when  her 
betrothed  would  have  rallied  her  in  playful  soothing. 
"  Indeed,  Charles,  we  must  not  linger  a  moment  longer. 
We  are  never  safe,  whether  he  be  in  the  house  or  out 
of  it !" 

"  Blessed  be  wheelbarrows !"  called  Martha,  cau 
tiously,  in  accents  broken  by  laughter.  "  I  owe  half  a 
crown  to  the  fellow  who  left  it  in  the  path !  I  shall 
leave  it  with  you,  Evelyn." 

"And  I  a  sovereign!"  added  Lord  Peterborough,  in 
the  same  key. 

In  subdued  tones,  he  went  on  to  Evelyn  : 

"  It  shall  be  as  you  will,  dear  heart !  You  need  to 
husband  strength  and  nerve  for  three  days  longer, — 
thank  heaven,  for  no  more !  The  continual  strain 
draws  cruelly  upon  you.  This  little  hand  is  slighter 
than  when  I  last  kissed  it.  In  a  week's  time  you  would 
be  resolved  into  thin  air — clear  spirit !  If  you  love 
me,  sweet,  have  a  care  of  what  is  most  precious  to  me. 
Keep  yourself  in  health  and  spirits  and  hope.  You 
were  ever  wont  to  be  despondent,  and  I  to  look  at  the 
bright  side  of  destiny.  Until  we  meet  again — a  meeting 
that  will,  please  GOD  !  have  no  parting  this  side  of  the 
grave — take  a  leaf  out  of  my  book,  and  believe  that 
M  23 


266  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Fortune  must  favor  those  who  obstinately  refuse  to 
distrust  her;  that  right  makes  might,  and  that  naught 
but  death  can  separate  you  and  me  !" 

In  the  eloquent  pause  that  ensued,  they  could  hear 
the  boisterous  laughter  about  the  doors  of  the  quar 
ters,  evidently  at  the  expense  of  the  luckless  nightly 
prowler. 

"  Now,  love !"  resumed  the  tones  fraught  with  fond 
est  feeling, — "  always  and  everywhere  my  love,  and 
mine  alone !  on  Monday  night  at  ten  o'clock,  Mr. 
Fontaine  will  meet  us  here,  and  the  hopes  of  years  of 
weary  waiting  be  fulfilled.  Until  then,  have  a  brave 
heart.  Trust  our  friends  here  and  at  Berkeley  to 
attend  to  the  lesser  concerns  pertaining  to  our  voyage. 
Bring  me  but  yourself  at  the  appointed  hour. — What 
is  it,  dear?"  feeling  her  slip  something  into  his  hand. 

"  I  have  a  desire — a  foolish  fancy,  you  may  think 
it,"  whispered  the  girl.  "  I  should  like  to  have  you 
take  the  ring  I  have  worn  with  your  picture  about  my 
neck,  except  after  the  door  of  my  room  was  bolted  at 
night,  and  put  it  upon  my  finger  now.  Wish  it  on — 
if  you  will !  It  may  be  superstition — the  belief  that  it 
will  make  me  the  stronger  to  endure  and  to  hope.  Am 
I  silly?" 

"With  a  sweet  and  holy  folly,  my  darling!"  He 
kissed  the  ring  when  it  was  fitted  upon  the  tremulous 
hand,  holding  it  to  his  lips,  passionately  and  long. 
"It  is  '  wished  on,'  my  lily,  until  I  withdraw  it  to 
make  room  for  another  that  will  mean  liberty  and  love  ! 

"  Mother  Mary  and  all  the  blessed  angels  have  you 
in  their  gentlest  keeping  until  we  meet  again,  my 
pearl  of  price  !" 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  267 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Or  the  Berkeley  Harrisons,  there  were  in  church  on 
Sunday  morning  but  the  father  and  two  children. 
Miss  Lotsie  Johnson,  gaunt  and  smileless,  sat  bolt  up 
right  in  the  family  pew,  found  the  places  for  Charles 
and  Nat  in  Prayer-Book  and  Bible,  and  never  turned 
her  eyes  in  the  direction  of  the  Westover  seat  until 
service  was  over. 

The  clear  face  of  the  rector,  olive-pale  above  his 
surplice,  was  thin  as  from  recent  illness;  his  black  eyes 
were  deep  and  solemn,  as  he  arose  from  his  knees  and 
faced  the  congregation  : 

"  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  will  say  unto 
him,  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  before 
thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son  !" 

"  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  0  Lord, 
for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  flesh  living  be  justified!" 

His  voice,  ever  full  and  sweet,  had,  to-day,  an  under 
tone  almost  plaintive,  yet  manly. 

Evelyn  Byrd,  kneeling  in  the  end  of  the  pew  next 
the  wall,  was  choked  by  tears  as  she  would  have  fol 
lowed  him  in  the  General  Confession.  When  the  rest 
arose,  she  remained  kneeling,  battling  bravely  with  the 
tide  of  softness  unsealed  by  the  opening  words  of  the 
service. 

Some  one,  presently,  reached  past  her  step-mother 
and  the  two  little  girls,  to  lay  a  vinaigrette  upon  the 
wet  leaves  of  her  Prayer-Book.  A  thrill  went  through 


268  HI$   GREAT  SELF. 

her  as  she  recognized  the  hand,  which  the  various 
labors  and  exposures  in  which  he  sustained  the  pio 
neer's  full  part,  could  never  make  coarse,  or  other  than 
elegant.  The  wave  of  filial  tenderness  that  responded 
to  the  act,  nearly  broke  down  what  poor  remains  of 
self-command  were  left  to  her  after  four  days  of  tor 
turing  anxiety  and  struggle.  He  had  spoken  kindly 
to  her  at  breakfast-time,  drawing  her  into  talk  such  as 
he  had  not  held  with  her  since  his  return  from  his 
journey,  and,  in  other  ways,  had  testified  a  disposition 
to  renew  their  former  affectionate  relations.  She 
thanked  GOD  for  the  gentler  memories  thus  given  her 
of  this,  the  last  Sabbath  she  would  ever  spend  in  the 
home  of  her  infancy  and  childhood.  It  was  such 
mournful  gratification  as  swells  the  heart  when  the  dear 
face,  soon  to  be  hidden  by  the  coffin-lid,  wears  its  loveliest 
look. 

She  had  no  hope  of  recall  in  the  years  to  come.  The 
strain  of  steadfastness  that  informed  her  fidelity  to  her 
lover  was  drawn  from  her  father's  soul.  In  becoming 
a  wife,  she  would  cease  to  be  a  daughter.  The  world 
might  be  before  her.  The  door  of  her  father's  house, 
once  closed  behind  her,  would  never  be  reopened  while 
he  lived. 

And  he  was  so  dear  and  noble  in  all  else  than  his 
opposition  to  her  marriage  with  the  man  she  loved  !  so 
indulgent  to,  and  proud  of  her,  his  favorite  child  !  Mr. 
Fontaine  had  said  that  she  did  well  in  keeping  her 
troth, — -yet  why  had  he  selected  that  passage  for  this 
day  of  all  others  ?  Why  had  he  not  been  near  her 
since  the  forenoon  on  which  he  had  learned  what  was 
the  resolution,  he  might,  for  aught  she  knew  to  the 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  269 

contrary,  consider,  upon  calmer  reflection,  un maidenly 
and  undutiful?  Lord  Peterborough  liad  told  her  of 
his  interview  with  the  rector,  but  with  true  delicacy, 
withheld  the  description  of  the  manner  of  their  parting, 
and  the  revelation  it  conveyed  to  him  of  the  nobility  of 
the  man  who  stood  their  friend  at  such  terrible  cost  to 
himself.  He  had  promised  to  bind  her  in  wedlock  to 
him  for  whom  she  would  forswear  parents  and  native 
land.  Was  the  text  that  sank  into  her  soul  the  priestly 
probe  of  a  conscience  he  could  not  coerce,  but  must 
warn  ? 

She  heard  not  a  word  of  litany,  or  gospel,  and  of 
the  sermon  but  one  sentence  : 

"  GOD  is  not  like  Jacob,  who  had  only  one  blessing 
in  store.  HE  hath  millions  of  millions  to  bestow  upon 
those  who  love  and  fear  Him." 

Had  she  limited  Divine  grace  in  all  the  years  in  the 
which,  refusing  to*be  comforted  by  other  mercies,  she 
had  cried,  night  and  day,  "Give  me  this  desire  of  my 
heart,  or  I  die !"  Had  she  submitted  patiently  to  the 
will  of  earthly  and  heavenly  parent,  would  not  comfort 
and  compensation  from  the  exhaustless  storehouse  of 
blessing  have  been  added  unto  her  ? 

Rising,  wan  and  weary,  from  her  knees  after  the 
benediction,  and  mingling  with  the  retiring  congrega 
tion,  she  was  jostled  by  Miss  Lotsie,  and  descried  the 
swift  motion  that  slipped  a  letter  into  the  reticule  that 
hung  at  Evelyn's  side.  The  ring  she  had  worn,  boldly 
and  unquestioned,  since  Friday  night,  seemed  to  tighten 
upon  her  finger  ;  the  sick  heart  lifted  itself  in  a  quick 
throb. 

"Right  or  wrong,  I  cannot  and  will  not  give  him 
23* 


270  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

up  !"  she  said,  inly.  "  The  consequences  be  upon  my 
head,  and  mine  alone  !" 

But  she  must  have  her  word  with  Mr.  Fontaine. 
He  stood  just  without  the  church-porch,  exchanging 
greetings  with  such  parishioners  as  had  come  from  a 
distance,  and  whom  he  seldom  met,  except  on  Sunday. 
A  little  apart,  sweet-faced  Mrs.  Carter  talked  with 
Madam  Byrd.  Lady  Bess  left  her  mother's  hand  to 
scamper  up  to  Evelyn  the  moment  she  saw  her. 

"  I  c?oin'  to  dinner  at  'ou  house  !"  she  proclaimed. 
"Mamma  says  so;  an'  'on  an'  Misser  Fonten  'ill  show 
me  'ee  pitters  in  'ee  bid  boot — 'ont  'ou  ?" 

"  O,  what  a  crooked  tongue  !''  cried  Evelyn,  taking 
her  up  in  her  arms,  and  hiding  her  face  in  the  plum}) 
white  neck.  "  If  you  like,  my  pet!  I  shall  be  very 
happy*to  have  you.  Go,  ask  Mr.  Fontaine  about  the 
pictures  !" 

She  watched  the  little  witch  fly  up  to  him,  saw  him 
bow  his  ear  to  what  the  embryo  coquette  preferred 
as  a  confidential  petition,  and  the  grave-eyes  light  in 
a  smile,  in  glancing  inquiringly  at  herself.  At  her 
slight  nod  he  carne  toward  her,  Bess  swinging  upon  his 
hand. 

"You  would  have  me  dine  at  Westover  to-day? 
Will  it  be  a  relief — a  help  to  you  in  any  way?  You 
know  how  earnest  is  my  will  to  serve  you." 

"  I  need  you  !"  was  the  low  reply.  "  I  never  needed 
you  more  !" 

They  walked  around  by  the  lower  slope  of  the  lawn, 
instead  of  following  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Byrd  and  their 
guests  by  way  of  the  garden.  Lady  Bess  made  a  third 
in  the  little  party,  and  did  so  much  of  the  talking  that 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  271 

they  were  half-way  to  the  house  before  Evelyn  could 
put  the  question  trembling  upon  her  tongue. 

"Did  your  selection  of  the  opening  sentence  of  the 
service  have  to  do  with  me!" 

"With  you?     How?" 

His  unfeigned  surprise  lightened  her  heart. 

"  I  fancied — I  feared — I  wondered  if  you  had 
changed  your  mind  since  Thursday/'  she  stammered, 
vexed  to  find  herself  blushing  painfully.  "  The  thought 
has  given  me  a  wretched  morning  !" 

"  Lady  Bess  !"  said  Mr.  Fontaine,  "  run  and  see  what 
that  is  shining  in  the  grass  over  there  !  It  looks  like 
a  diamond  !  You  must  believe  me,"  he  continued, 
rapidly,  to  Evelyn,  "  when  I  declare  that  my  own  heart 
dictated  the  selection  to  which  you  refer,  and  that  the 
application  was  to  myself.  Believe  me,  too,  that  I  can 
never  cease  to  honor  your  constancy  to  your  betrothed, 
or  to  believe  that,  with  respect  to  your  father,  patience 
has  had  its  perfect  work.  There  is  a  love  that  outranks 
filial  duty.  '  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father 
and  mother  and  cleave  unto  his  wife.'  You  asked  me 
on  Thursday  what  I  would  say  to  my  sister  were  she  in 
your  strait.  I  have  said  it! 

"  Only  a  dew-drop,  Bess  !"  as  she  held  up  two  rueful 
wet  fingers.  "  That  happens,  ofttimes,  little  one,  and 
to  older  people  than  you  !" 

He  allowed  himself  not  another  syllable  that  might 
be  construed  into  complaint  of  his  lot.  At  the  table, 
full  of  chance  guests,  he  was  ready  and  adroit  in  keep 
ing  the  talk  away  from  Evelyn  and  Madam  Byrd 
without  seeming  to  shield  them  from  notice. 

Madam's  sanguine  complexion  was  lowered  beyond 


272  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

its  wont;  her  bright  eyes  were  languid.  By  common 
and  tacit  consent,  she  was  not  taken  into  the  secret  of 
the  projected  elopement.  In  the  hour  of  discovery  and 
investigation,  she  would  be  able  to  look  her  lord  in  the 
face  and  say  with  truth,  "  I  knew  no  more  than  you !" 

Evelyn  would  see  to  it  that  suspicion  should  not  light 
upon  the  woman  whose  warm  heart  had  opened  to  her 
step-child  in  the  hour  of  need,  and  dealt  out  love  and 
sympathy  in  unstinted  measure.  The  letter  to  be  left 
for  her  father  lay  in  a  locked  drawer  upstairs.  She 
would  leave  nothing  for  the  last  day  that  could  be  done 
beforehand.  Under  cover  of  the  darkness,  the  faithful 
Caliban  had  obeyed  without  question  the  direction  to 
carry  and  leave  in  the  church-porch,  the  night  before, 
a  hamper  containing  all  that  she  would  take  away  from 
her  father's  house.  She  would  go  to  her  lover  poor  in 
all  but  the  treasure  of  love  that  had  gathered  and  kept, 
according  to  the  rule  of  divine  usury,  the  interest  of 
seven  years. 

"  Husband  your  strength,"  her  betrothed  had  en 
joined.  She  strove  to  obey  him  to  the  letter.  The 
winds  that  had  swayed  resolution  and  hope  during  the 
morning  service,  were  a  surprise  of  which  she  was 
ashamed. 

She  appreciated,  and  gratefully,  Mr.  Fontaine's  tact 
in  diverting  attention  from  her,  but  felt  strong  enough 
to  meet  whatever  the  occasion  might  demand.  In  the 
seclusion  of  her  room,  she  had  read  the  missive  dex 
terously  delivered  by  Miss  Lotsie.  It  rustled  softly  in 
her  bosom  now,  as  if  trying  to  whisper  to  her  the  love- 
words,  sweet,  pure,  and  solemn,  penned  by  the  beloved 
hand. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  273 

"  <Tattends  !"  was  set  below  the  signature.  And  after 
it — "  Heaven  be  praised  !  I  write  it  for  the  last  time !" 

Had  Colonel  Byrd  divined  the  suspenseful  pertur 
bation  of  his  spouse,  the  longing  to  know  everything, 
and  the  dread  lest  she  should,  accidentally,  learn  any 
thing;  the  certainty  that  something  eventful  was  in 
near  store,  and  crass  ignorance  as  to  time,  place,  and 
circumstance  of  the  event, — and  divining  all,  had  he 
pitied  her  from  his  heart  for  what  she  was  undergoing 
and  must  not  show — his  deportment  toward  the  har 
assed  matron  could  not  have  been  more  chivalric. 
Without  embarrassing  her  by  downright  compliment, 
he  contrived  to  show  her  and  her  doings  in  the  most 
favorable  light ;  quoted  her  and  consulted  her,  and  left 
no  possible  wish  ungranted. 

At  her  right  sat  Mr.  Randolph  from  Tuckahoe,  and 
between  him  and  the  host  the  ball  of  badinage  bounded 
gayly  back  and  forth  to  the  contemptuous  bewilderment 
of  Lieutenant  Maynard,  who  was  Evelyn's  vis-a-vis. 
The  naval  officer  made  a  strenuous  effort,  at  length, 
to  introduce  topics  which  would  be,  he  fancied,  more 
interesting  to  the  company  at  large. 

"I  was  at  Wakefield,  Friday,  Colonel,  and  had  a 
talk  with  Nat  Harrison  upon  something  that  concerns 
you  nearly,"  he  began,  raising  his  voice  to  address 
Colonel  Carter,  who  sat  at  Evelyn's  elbow.  "  He  says, 
unless  measures  be  set  on  foot  to  suppress  it,  that  smug 
gling  upon  the  James  and  York  and  Pamunkey  will 
subvert  all  honest  trade.  He  is  of  opinion,  likewise, 
that  the  skippers  of  many  of  the  so-called  trading  ves 
sels,  licensed  to  convey  our  exports  to  the  other  side, 
are  not  averse  to  doing  a  tidy  bit  of  'running'  on  the 


274  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

sly.  As  river-admiral,  he  is  mightily  exercised  by 
these  suspicions,  and  would  fain  have  the  planters  on 
the  James  strengthen  his  hands  in  respect  to  patrols  by 
water  and  by  land." 

"  One  moment,  if  you  please,  Lieutenant !"  said 
Colonel  Byrd,  in  suave  apology.  "  Before  organizing 
our  patrol,  taste  that  liqueur!  It  is  my  Lady's  latest 
composition  and  her  best.  Which  conveys  a  volume 
of  praise  to  those  acquainted  with  her  skill  as  a  vint 
ner.  She  put  up,  last  spring,  birch  wine  that  has  the 
very  spiciness  and  life-giving  breath  of  the  forest. 
The  receipt  was  obtained — I  forget  from  whom,  my 
dear?" 

Madam  supplied  the  name,  and  certain  particulars 
respecting  the  manufacture  that  excited  lively  interest 
on  the  part  of  the  housewives  present,  and  silenced 
ignorant  men. 

Her  lord  lent  an  indulgfent  ear,  and  when  the  discus 
sion  flagged,  applied  another  spur  : 

"My  Lady's  achievements  throw  Mrs.  Bundle  and 
Mrs.  Glasse  so  far  into  the  shade  that  I  am  unwilling 
to  have  her  light  smoulder  under  a  bushel,  albeit  her 
modesty  inclines  her  to  invert  the  measure  over  the 
candle.  You  are  confessedly  an  epicure,  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  and  must  coax  from  her  a  small  box  of  the 
caviare  which  is  like  to  hand  down  her  reputation  to 
remote  generations.  She  is  exceeding  stingy  with  it, 
and  jealous  of  adventuring  it  upon  untutored  palates." 

"  '  It  is  caviare  to  the  general !'  "  quoted  Mr.  Ran 
dolph.  "I  thank  you  for  crediting  me  with  taste 
capable  of  valuing  it  aright." 

"Harrison  is,  moreover,  firmly  convinced,"  resumed 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  275 

the  Lieutenant,  "that  smuggling  is  the  high-road  to 
piracy.  Pie  has  grievous  suspicions  touching  a  certain 
ill-favored  skipper " 

"  Pardon  me  again,  my  dear  Mayuard,  but  I  chanced 
to  hear  Mrs.  Carter  name  the  '  Beggar's  Opera'  just 
now,  and  would  ask  her,  lest  I  forget  it  later,  if  she 
have  ever  read  it  ?" 

As  the  lady  accosted  had  never  so  much  as  heard 
the  name  of  the  play  before,  her  command  of  feature 
and  presence  of  mind  were  praiseworthy. 

"I  have  never  had  that  pleasure,"  she  replied. 

"Then,  Madam,  if  you  would  enjoy  a  rare  intel 
lectual  treat,  allow  me  to  lend  the  book  to  you.  Then 
capture  Mr.  Randolph,  there,  holding  him  in  ward 
until  that  he  read  it  aloud  to  you.  You  have  not 
forgotten,  Randolph,  the  time  when  I  was  storm 
bound  at  your  house,  and  Mrs.  Fleming  and  yourself 
triumphed  over  the  bad  weather  by  reading  this  same 
work  ?" 

"  I  recollect  how  admirably  Colonel  Byrd  read  it," 
corrected  Mr.  Randolph. 

"  Nay  !  but  you  two  finished  it.  Evelyn,  daughter ! 
you  will  kindly  look  up  the  book  after  dinner  and 
have  it  put  into  Mrs.  Carter's  carriage.  'Twas  a  droll 
history  this  comedy  had  in  London  !"  The  servant? 
were  removing  the  cloth  preparatory  to  bringing  in  the 
dessert,  and  he  addressed  his  discourse  to  the  whole 
party.  "  Not  altogether  in  consequence  of  the  wit 
and  humor  that  sparkled  in  it,  but  owing  to  some 
political  reflections  that  seemed  to  hit  the  ministry,  it 
ran  for  forty  nights  successively  and  gained  four  thou 
sand  pounds  to  the  author.  The  Duchess  of  Queens- 


276  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

bury  \vas  his  patroness,  and  no  man  with  half  an  eye 
in  his  head  or  half  a  guinea  in  his  pocket  could  resist 
her.  Her  Grace,  like  death,  spared  nobody,  but  even 
took  my  Lord  Selkirk — the  stingiest  peer  in  England 
— in  for  two  guineas,  to  repair  which  extravagance  he 
lived  upon  Scotch  herrings  and  water  for  two  months 
afterward.  But  the  best  story  was  that  she  made  a 
very  smart  officer  in  His  Majesty's  Guards  give  her  a 
guinea.  She  plied  him  for  five,  but  he  swore  one  was 
all  he  had  in  the  world.  "When  her  Grace  came  to 
consider  the  matter,  she  was  so  touched  with  compas 
sion  that  she  sent  the  young  liar  fifty  guineas  out  of 
her  own  pocket  the  next  day  to  reward  his  obedience. 
I  think  this  anecdote  was  my  contribution  to  the  enter 
tainment  on  that  soaking  day — a  bagatelle  by  compari 
son  with  the  excellent  reading  with  which  Mr.  Ilan- 
dolph  and  accomplished  Mistress  Fleming  favored 
me." 

The  vein  of  court  and  literary  gossip  being  opened, 
smugglers  and  buccaneers  had  not  a  show  of  a  hearing 
before  the  ladies  quitted  the  table. 

"Lieutenant  Maynard  is  positively  absurd  with  his 
sea-stories!"  Mrs.  Carter  remarked  to  Madam  Byrd, 
seated  in  the  wide  front  of  the  hall.  "  But  for  Colonel 
Byrd's  skill  in  parrying  them,  we  should  have  had 
naught  else  all  dinner-time.  His  smugglers  and 
pirates  exist  nowhere  save  in  his  imagination,  or 
Nat  Harrison's.  One  is  as  bad  as  the  other." 

When  the  hour  of  parting  came,  Lady  Bess  was 
seized  with  the  notion  that  she  would  stay  all  night 
with  her  "  Eva," — passing  from  coaxing  to  storming, 
from  storming  to  such  piteousuess  of  weeping  and 


IIJS   GREAT  SELF.  277 

brokenness  of  heart,  that  even  the  august  host  inter 
ceded  with  her  mother  to  grant  her  prayer. 

"  But  the  child's  stubbornness  must  be  conquered, 
some  time !"  reasoned  the  parent,  one  of  the  many 
whose  theory  as  to  the  training  of  their  young  is  per 
fect,  and  whose  intentions  are  above  reproach. 

"Grant  her  one  day's  grace!"  pleaded  the  Colonel. 
"My  girl  here  will  be  the  happier  for  one  more  night 
with  her  pet  bed-fellow  before  the  breaking-in  be 
gins," — passing  his  arm  about  Evelyn,  fondly.  "She 
misses  our  sprightly  Mistress  Martha,  whom  she  will, 
I  trust,  have  back  again  ere  long.  The  house  is  dole- 

/  o  o 

fully  quiet  for  the  withdrawal  of  her  winsome  pres 
ence." 

Mrs.  Carter  did  not  note  the  slow  mist  of  unshed 
tears  in  the  daughter's  eyes,  or  the  amazement  in  her 
step-mother's  at  what  sounded  natural  and  characteristic 
to  herself.  Colonel  Byrd's  faultless  manner  to  other 
women  was  perfected  by  domestic  practice.  The  neigh 
bor  did  not  credit  one  of  the  whispers  that  would  make 
him  out  a  despot  when  thwarted.  She  had  been 
heard  to  wish  that  her  Colonel  would  go  to  school  to 
him. 

Evelyn  was  not  averse  to  the  companionship  thrust 
upon  her.  She  loved  Bess,  in  spite  of  the  minx's  way 
wardness,  and  was  glad  to  purchase  distraction  from 
haunting  thoughts  by  showing  her  the  "  pitters"  in  the 
big  Dutch  Bible,  Mr.  Fontaine  turning  the  leaves  with 
her,  and  telling  Scripture  stories  that  kept  away  per 
tinacious  question  from  his  ally.  He  was  passing  gentle, 
this  afternoon,  and  his  seriousness  had  in  it  nothing 
forbidding  to  the  child.  She  sat  in  his  lap,  her  head 

24 


278  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

upon  his  shoulder,  her  eyes  riveted  upon  the  quaint 
cuts.  Once  in  awhile  she  sighed  in  excess  of  content. 
Twice  she  lifted  her  hand  to  pat  the  olive-pale  cheek 
touching  her  curly  pate.  The  second  time,  she  cooed  : 
"  I  7/0 ve  'ou  dee'ly,  Misser  Fonten  !" 

"  Who  does  not?'  responded  Evelyn,  lowly. 

"  Thank  yon  !" 

That  was  all.  Neither  by  look  nor  accent  did  he 
betray  suffering  past  or  present.  She  should  have 
nothing  painful  to  remember  in  these  last  fleeting 
hours. 

At  the  picture  of  the  Scourging,  he  looked  across  the 
book  to  Evelyn.  She  answered  as  if  he  had  spoken: 

"So  much  has  happened  since!  So  much  that  has 
proved  you  the  truest  friend  woman  ever  had.  If  in 
the  years  to  come  we  can  ever  show  our  gratitude  in 
other  ways  than  in  words,  you  may  be  sure " 

"  Say  'e  hard  words !"  said  Bess,  imperiously. 

He  repeated  the  Latin  text.  The  harder  words  were 
said  afterward  : 

"I  have  done  my  duty — nothing  more.  There  can 
be  no  question  of  gratitude." 

The  "  we"  and  "  our"  were  poisoned  points  that 
brought  the  blood.  So  long  as  the  surface  visible  to 
her  was  unstained — what  matter? 

The  study-door  had  swung  ajar,  although  there  was 
no  wind.  Through  the  crack,  a  pair  of  heavy  gray 
eyes  surveyed  the  group,  and  the  thin  mouth  that  went 
with  them  widened  tigerishly.  The  spy  feared  this 
rival  no  longer,  but  he  gloated  over  the  thought  of 
what  impended  above  one  lie  believed  to  be  ignorant  of 
nearins:  events.  The  unruffled  mien  and  the  flawless 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  279 

courtesy  of  the  thoroughbred  deceived  the  student  of 
human  frailties;  the  lower  nature  expressed  some  assua- 
sive  ooze  for  its  own  hurt  from  anticipation  of  a  better 
man's  sorrow. 

The  afternoon  was  as  sultry  as  mid-August.  All 
day  the  river  had  lain  like  a  sheet  of  pewter  under  a 
sun  that  wilted  the  grass  and  curled  the  fallen  leaves. 
The  sun-setting  had  the  lurid  glower  of  pit-fires. 
Behind  them,  the  sky  showed  coppery  and  sullen ;  the 
water  was  dusky  crimson,  shot  with  dull  yellow;  the 
land  had  caught  a  baleful  glow  under  which  it  seemed 
to  shrink  and  hold  its  breath. 

Mr.  Fontaine  had  said  "  Good-by"  in  the  presence 
of  a  dozen  people,  and  gone  home,  and  Evelyn,  struck 
with  a  sort  of  uneasy  awe  by  the  unearthly  light  and 
breathless  atmosphere,  walked  down  the  front  steps 
with  Lady  Bess,  and  so  on  to  the  eastern  gate, — partly 
to  seek  coolness,  partly  to  have  a  more 'extensive  view 
of  the  phenomenon.  On  the  other  side  of  the  fence, 
screened  from  the  house- windows  by  a  clump  of  caly- 
canthus-bushes,  was  Lieutenant  Maynard,  steadying  a 
field-glass  upon  the  top-rail,  and  gazing  so  intently  at 
some  object  up  the  river  as  not  to  see  her  until  she 
spoke. 

"  Are  you  on  the  lookout  for  your  buccaneer,  Mr. 
Maynard  ?" 

He  started  violently,  recovered  himself  upon  seeing 
who  were  the  intruders,  and  answered  with  a  half- 
laugh  : 

"  It  may  be  nothing  worse  than  a  smuggler,  but  I 
dare  be  sworn  there's  something  wrong  about  that  tight 
little  craft  over  there.  I  passed  her  on  Friday,  some 


280  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

miles  below,  and  had  a  sight  of  her  skipper,  and  if  he's 
an  honest  seaman,  I'll  eat  my  cutlass.  I'd  wager  the 
same  that  I've  set  eyes  on  him  before,  and  in  none  too 
respectable  a  place.  I  hailed  him,  and  held  a  parley 
over  the  side  to  see  if  I  could  fix  the  recollection,  but 
he  was  shy  of  showing  too  much  of  himself,  and,  after 
all,  I  may  be  a  fool  to  distrust  a  man  because  one  eye 
looks  nor'east  and  the  other  sou'west." 

"  The  evidence  would  hardly  carry  weight  with  a 
jury,"  said  Evelyn,  demurely.  "  What  is  the  name 
of  his  vessel  ?" 

"  The  Mocldng-Bird.  I  talked  to  that  sober-sides  of 
a  Bass  about  it,  awhile  ago,  and  he  says  she  was  bought 
of  your  father,  and  is  run  by  reputable  parties.  If  I 
liked  Bass  better,  I'd,  maybe,  be  less  distrustful  of  his 
schooner." 

"  His  schooner  !"  catching  at  the  word  with  terrified 
eagerness. 

"  Of  course  not !  I  meant  that  he  spoke  well  of 
her,  and  her  owners — whoever  they  may  be." 

Bess,  who  was  amusing  herself  by  swinging  on  the 
gate,  her  toes  wedged  perilously  between  the  pickets, 
projected  her  quota  into  the  conversation. 

"  Misser  Bass  is  a  velly  wittet  man  !  Pie  ioot  mine 
p'itty  bofe.  I  wiss  'on  'ould  ti\l  him  dead  /" 

"  Fie !  fie !  is  this  the  little  lady  who  was  listening 
to  Bible  stories  just  now  ?"  eluded  Evelyn.  "  She  has  a 
long  memory  for  one  of  her  years,"  smiling  aside  to 
Maynard.  "  Poor  Mr.  Bass  affronted  her  mortally  and 
mysteriously,  it  is  now  five  weeks  ago.  She  will  none 
of  him  since." 

"  She  may  not  be  far  wrong.     The  fellow  has  a  shifty 


1118   GREAT  SELF.  281 

eye,  and  children's  instincts  are  oftener  right  than  \ve 
believe.  I  wish  your  schooner  had  another  voucher." 

Evelyn  turned  her  head  to  hide  a  smile.  Mrs.  Car 
ter's  epithet,  "  positively  absurd,"  recurred  to  her.  The 
gallant  pirate-hunter  was  a  man  of  one  idea,  and  worked 
it  hard. 

"  You  would  hardly  board  her,  cutlass  in  hand,  on 
that  account,  I  suppose,  any  more  than  you  would  put 
her  skipper  in  irons  for  having  a  cast  in  his  eye." 

Maynard's  eye  was  again  glued  to  his  spy-glass. 

"  They  are  confoundedly  busy  on  board  for  a  Sunday 
afternoon,  when  Jack  Tar  likes  to  be  drunk  on  shore 
in  hi.s  best  toggery.  She's  built  for  speed,  too,  and 
could  show  a  pair  of  clean  heels  did  she  choose.  I 
wonder  where  I  have  seen  that  skipper  before!  And 
he  skulked  as  if  he  knew  me.  I'll  ask  your  father  to 
whom  he  sold  the  vessel,  and  if  she's  likely  to  have 
changed  hands  since.  To-morrow,  I'll  run  down  to 
Wakefield,  and  stir  up  Harrison  to  send  out  a  revenue- 
cutter  to  demand  her  papers — bill  of  lading  included, 
and  see  if  her  cargo  corresponds  with  them. — Bless  my 
soul  !" 

Lady  Bess,  in  swinging  the  gate  shut,  had  thrown 
such  weight  and  energy  into  the  emprise  as  to  jar  her 
hands  from  their  grip  upon  the  pales,  and,  her  feet  re 
maining  between  them,  she  had  fallen  backward  and 
head  foremost  into  the  pit  of  the  officer's  stomach. 


24* 


282  UIS   GREAT  SELF. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

WHEN  Lady  Bess's  shoes  were  removed  that  night, 
a  bruise,  about  the  size  of  a  sixpence,  was  perceptible 
upon  one  instep, —  a  novelty  that  lashed  her  imagination 
into  a  gallop.  The  wounded  member  must  be  rubbed 
with  opodeldoc,  then  chafed  by  Evelyn's  velvet  palm  ; 
lastly,  done  up  in  linen  cambric  and  laid  upon  a  pillow 
after  she  was  put  to  bed,  as  she  had  seen  "  Mamma  fits 
Sharley's  foot  when  it  was  b'o&en." 

The  injured  part  of  her  frame  disposed  to  her  satis 
faction,  she  informed  her  patient  slave  that  she  would 
like  to  hear  over  again  all  the  stories  Mr.  Fontaine  had 
told  her  in  the  afternoon.  She  never  drooped  an  eyelid 
until  Cain  and  Abel,  Noah  and  the  Dove,  Joseph  and 
his  Brethren,  Little  Samuel,  and  the  list  of  intermediate 
biographies  up  to  the  New  Jerusalem,  were  given  in 
detail. 

It  was  half-past  eight,  and,  at  this  season,  pitchy 
dark  without,  when  Evelyn  sat  down  to  write  a  note, 
the  subject  and  wording  of  which  had  engaged  her 

tj  O  O      <_? 

thoughts  throughout  the  automatic  rehearsal  of  the 
histories  aforesaid.  Bess  had  rebuked  her,  judicially, 
for  inaccuracies,  and  justly.  No  well-instructed  damsel 
of  four  years,  less  three  months,  would  in  that  genera 
tion,  swallow,  unconvulsed,  the  statement  that  the  chief 
butler  saw  in  his  dream  a  ladder  upon  which  angels 
were  going  up  and  down. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  283 

Bess  had  doubts  as  to  the  ladder,  even  when  it  was 
relegated  to  the  right  dreamer. 

"  What  for  did  Jey  fate  a  yadder  when  'ey  had  wings? 
/'ould  have  f'ewed  up  and  down.  So  !"  flapping  her 
night-gowned  arras. 

"  We  must  ask  Mr.  Fontaine  about  that,  some  day," 
said  poor  Evelyn,  and  was  suffered  to  proceed. 

She  had  treated  Maynard's  talk  of  smugglers  and 
river-patrol  lightly  in  the  hearing.  Later,  it  returned 
upon  her  memory,  and  begot  solicitude.  The  Mocking- 
Bird  would  drop  down  the  river  to-morrow  midnight, 
and  while,  with  wind  and  tide  in  her  favor,  she  would 
pass  Wakefield  before  dawn,  it  would  be  awkward 
should  the  admiral's  zeal  for  the  integrity  of  revenue 
laws  incite  him  to  challenge  the  outgoing  schooner. 
Moreover,  and  contrary  to  reason,  the  insinuations 
touching  the  captain  wrought  upon  her  imagination. 
She  wrote  frankly  to  her  lover  all  she  had  heard,  and 
begged  him  to  push,  through  Mr.  Harrison  of  Berkeley, 
inquiries  into  the  skipper's  character.  They  could  not, 
in  the  circumstances,  afford  to  be  over-nice  in  the  selec 
tion  of  instruments  for  furthering  their  flight,  but 
might  it  not  be  prudent  to  shift  quarters  at  Norfolk, 
should  he  be  dissatisfied  with  what  he  learned  of  this 
man's  antecedents? 

She  implored  the  forgiveness  of  her  al most-bride 
groom  if  her  over-wrought  nerves  made  her  foolishly 
timid.  Whatever  might  be  his  decision,  she  would 
acquiesce  in  it  cheerfully.  Nothing  and  nobody  could 
work  them  serious  harm  when  once  they  were  together. 
The  letter  written,  she  summoned  her  maid  and  sent 
her  privately  for  Caliban. 


284  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

The  boy  appeared  promptly,  but  Evelyn  remarked 
immediately  a  certain  disorder  of  mien  unusual  in  the 
spruce  lackey.  His  fingers  puckered  plaits  in  the  sides 
of  his  breeches  ;  his  lips  were  loose,  and  twitched  oddly, 
his  eyes  roved  from  right  to  left,  up  and  down — any 
where  rather  than  to  rest  upon  her  face. 

"  I  sent  for  you,  Caliban "  she  began.  "  What 

ails  you  ?  are  you  ill  ?" 

"  Naw'm  !     Dar  ain'  nothin'  ail  me,  ma'am  !" 

"  You  behave  so  strangely !"  pursued  the  young 
lady.  "  I  was  fearful  that  you  had  gotten  into  trouble, 
and  thought  I  might  help  you.  If  you  have,  come  to 
me  when  you  get  back,  and  tell  me  the  whole  story. 
Just  now  I  am  in  great  haste.  Come  close  to  me  and 
listen  heed  fully. 

"About  half-way  between  this  and  Berkeley  a 
schooner  is  anchored  to-night.  At  ten  o'clock,  Mr. 
Francis  will  be  on  board  of  her  for  a  little  while.  I 
wish  him  to  have  this  letter  before  he  gets  to  the  vessel, 
if  possible.  If  he  is  already  on  board,  wait  until  he 
leaves  the  schooner  before  you  give  it  to  him.  My 
skiff  is  chained  to  the  Westover  pier.  Here  is  the  key 
of  the  padlock.  Get  into  her,  and  pull  toward  the 
vessel,  and  keep  near  her  until  you  see  Mr.  Francis 
going  or  returning  from  her.  His  boat  will  be  rowed 
by  Roger  from  Berkeley.  Follow  this  boat  and  give 
the  letter  into  Mr.  Francis's  own  hands.  Repeat  to.  me 
now  what  I  have  told  you,  that  I  may  be  sure  you 
understand." 

The  grave  simplicity  of  her  address  steadied  the  mes 
senger's  head,  as  her  kindness  nerved  his  sinking  heart. 
He  recited  the  orders  he  had  received  without  a  blunder. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  285 

Besides  the  honor  of  serving  her,  he  had  the  stimulus 
of  the  promised  hearing  when  his  mission  should  be 
done.  His  eyes,  wistful  and  honest,  did  not  leave  hers 
while  she  subjoined  : 

"  That  is  well  done,  Caliban  !  I  am  putting  a  great 
trust  into  your  hands.  It  is  very  important  that  Mr. 
Francis  should  have  that  to-night.  I  would  send  you 
to  Berkeley,  but  I  will  not  tempt  you  to  disobey  your 
master's  orders.  I  know  that  I  can  depend  upon  you 
to  tell  nobody  where  you  are  going.  Be  as  swift  as  you 
can,  and  when  you  get  back,  come  at  once  to  me.  Viney 
will  be  on  the  watch  for  you  and  bring  you  up-stairs." 

There  was  not  a  touch  of  the  saucy  rascal  in  the  sober 
face  the  page  carried  down-stairs,  and  the  resolute  pace 
— the  long  lope  he  might  have  copied  from  his  father — 
that  took  him  down  to  the  pier. 

He  had  had  a  trying — a  disastrous  day.  While  the 
"  white  folks"  were  in  church  he  had  betaken  himself, 
leisurely,  up  the  river's  edge.  Stopping  here,  to  shy  a 
stone  at  a  snipe  or  bull-frog,  halting  there,  to  stare  at  a 
passing  boat,  scraping  his  bare  toes  in  the  wet  sand,  and 
kicking  the  pebbles  idly — he  readied  the  wooded  mouth 
of  a  ravine  half  a  mile  from  the  Westover  dock.  Into 
this  thicket,  first  looking  up  and  down  the  stream,  to 
make  sure  he  was  not  observed,  he  plunged,  creeping 
under  the  mat  of  vines  and  putting  aside  boughs, 
•without  breaking  a  twig.  Before  he  got  to  the  stone 
masking  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  lie  discerned  tokens 
of  recent  visitors.  The  shingle  bore  the  prints  of  foot 
steps,  imperfectly  covered  ;  withering  leaves  bestrewed 
the  ground,  and  bruised  vines  drooped  in  the  sun. 
Making  no  more  noise  in  the  undergrowth  than  a 


286  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

rabbit,  Caliban,  armed  with  a  hickory-stick,  cut  in  the 
uplands,  crawled  to  the  cave-door,  pried  out  the  stone 
with  a  few  skilful  thrusts,  and  the  green  light  filtered 
through  the  foliage  into  the  paved  interior. 

The  tunnel  was  empty  as  far  as  the  eye  could  pene 
trate  the  obscure  depths !  With  a  low  howl  of  rage, 
the  half-breed  dashed  in,  and  groped  along  until  stopped 
by  a  mass  of  fallen  masonry  and  earth.  There,  he 
struck  a  light.  Not  one  bale  or  keg  remained  to  cor 
roborate  the  tale  of  his  midnight  adventure  !  Without 
them,  he  had  no  tale  to  tell.  As  the  truth  burst  upon 
him  he  flung  himself  upon  the  flags  and  cried  piteously. 
His  schemes  of  revenge,  renown,  reward,  were  like 
the  "  devil's  snuff-box"  into  which  he  had  dug  his  heel 
wantonly  on  his  way  hither.  There  was  nothing  left 
but  choking  black  dust. 

A  thought  drifted  to  him,  by-and-by,  that  dried  his 
tears  with  sudden  fire. 

"  I  gwine  tei%  see  Granny,  now,  shore  !  Mis'  Evelyn, 
she  ken  git  me  er  parss.  I'll  git  even  wid  dat  po'- 
white-folks-Satan,  shore's  I  born !  He  ain'  fitten 
ter  libe,  an'  he  ain'  fitten  ter  die.  De  Lord,  He  don' 
wan'  him,  an'  de  debble,  he  won'  habe  him,  ef  he  ken 
holp  it.  But  he  got  fur  ter  start  'pon  he  trabbels  fo' 
long.  Ef  I  kent  pay  him  out  one  way,  I  will  in 
anodder !" 

He  turned  over,  preparatory  to  rising,  and  his  hand 
struck  something  that  rolled  and  rattled.  It  was  a 
silver  pencil-case,  and  one  that  he  knew.  Colonel 
Byrd  had  given  it  to  his  secretary  last  Christmas.  The 
initials  "  C.  R.  _Z>."  were  engraved  upon  one  side. 

Here  was  a  scrap  of  proof!     The  plunder  had,  tin- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  287 

doubtedly,  been  removed  on  Saturday  night.  Bass  had 
gone  early  to  his  room,  complaining  of  indisposition, 
and  Caliban,  like  a  fool,  believing  in  the  excuse,  had 
treated  himself  to  a  long  night's  sleep.  After  the  house 
was  still,  the  villain  must  have  stolen  out  to  the  rendez 
vous.  Caliban  recollected  seeing  him  make  numerous 
memoranda  in  his  note-book  at  supper-time  from 
Colonel  JByrd's  dictation,  and  that  he  used  this  pencil- 
case.  The  lad  gnashed  his  pointed,  glittering  teeth  in 
figuring  to  himself  how  securely  the  wretch  had  sat 
here,  perhaps  upon  a  keg  of  stolen  spirits,  and  made 
inventory  of  the  contraband  cargo  as  it  was  taken  out 
and  to  the  boats. 

A  grin  checked  the  gnashing. 

"  Don'  I  wisht  I  may  see  him  when  he  misses  dis? 
He  got  ter  arsk  for  it,  some  time.  Den,  I  gwine  ter 
cuar'  it  ter  Marster,  an'  tell  whar  I  done  fin'  it." 

He  pushed  the  stone  into  place,  crawled  through  the 
undergrowth,  and  went  home,  a  sadder  and  a  wickeder 
boy  for  the  disappointment.  His  spiritless  performance 
of  the  onerous  duties  of  the  Sunday  waiting  elicited 
sundry  reproofs  from  his  mistress,  whose  own  temper 
was  somewhat  the  worse  for  wear  just  now,  and  entailed 
upon  him  the  unforeseen  result  of  detention  in  the 
dining-room  when  the  other  servants  were  dismissed 
for  the  night,  while  he  set  in  order  under  Madam's 
eyes  a  sideboard,  into  which  she  had  detected  him  hur 
rying  plates  and  dishes,  helter-skelter,  without  regard 
to  age,  value,  or  pattern. 

The  work  was  just  completed  when  Miss  Evelyn 
sent  for  him.  Colonel  Byrd,  Lieutenant  Maynard,  Mr. 
Randolph,  and  two  or  three  others,  had  taken  their 


288  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

chairs  to  the  broad  stone  landing  of  the  front  steps,  and 
sat  there  smoking.  Bass  had  gone  away  on  horseback 
that  afternoon  and  not  returned.  It  never  occurred  to 
the  lad  that  he  might  be  upon  his  enemy's  trail  until, 
when  he  got  to  the  pier,  he  found  the  skiif  gone.  The 
padlock  had  been  opened  with  another  key  than  the  one 
Miss  Evelyn  had  given  him,  and  the  boat  loosened, 
after  which  the  lock  was  again  made  fast  upon  the  chain 
and  laid  carefully  beyond  the  reach  of  the  waves.  It 
was  a  clean  job,  and  with  lightning  instinct  the  boy 
felt  that  but  one  man  belonging  to  the  plantation  would 
have  dared  commit  the  trespass. 

His  heart  pumped  boiling  blood  into  his  temples 
while  he  stood,  trying  to  bring  together  the  various 
threads  of  the  plot  he  began  to  feel  was  weaving  about 
him. 

That  his  courtly  master  could  be  interested  in  se 
curing  or  preventing  Mr.  Francis's  passage  in  a  vessel 
of  which  Bass  was  chief  owner;  that  Miss  Evelyn 
corresponded  secretly  with  the  pleasant,  generous  Eng 
lish  gentleman  whom  Miss  Martha  was  to  marry  ;  that 
so  nice  a  gentleman  was  in  such  haste  to  get  away  from 
people  who  thought  the  world  and  all  of  him  that  he 
could  not  wait  for  a  larger  and  geuteeler  vessel, — a 
merchantman  instead  of  a  schooner,  and  a  smuggler 
at  that, — were,  considered  separatelv,  incontrovertible 
facts.  They  defied  his  cunning  to  dovetail  them. 

In  the  confusion,  he  got  hold  of  two  ideas  : 

1.  Miss  Evelyn's  errand  must  be  done.     If  not  in 
one  way,  then  in  another. 

2.  Bass  must  be  followed.     It  was  remotely  possible 
that  he  would  be  on  the  schooner  to  receive  the  passen- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  289 

ger.  The  two  had  never  seemed  fond  of  one  another, 
but  there  might  be  business  ties, — a  realm  in  which 
Caliban  knew  himself  to  be  all  at  sea. 

When  he  got  home,  he  would  make  a  clean  breast  to 
Miss  Evelyn — sweet  saint  that  she  was  ! — of  everything 
he  had  discovered  and  suspected.  She  had  promised 
to  listen,  and  she  might  be  able  to  help  him  out  of  the 
muddle. 

The  schooner  was  over  a  mile  away,  at  the  most. 
He  had  swum  three  times  as  far  on  a  warm  night,  and 
this  was  almost  as  hot  as  the  day  hud  been.  While 
taking  off  his  Sunday  clothes,  folding  and  hiding  them, 
under  a  bush,  he  devised  a  scheme  for  carrying  the 
letter  in  safety.  He  wrapped  it  tightly  in  lily-leaves, 
picked  from  the  bank;  bound  oak-leaves  about  them, 
and  tied  up  all  with  a  bit  of  twine.  This  he  laid  in 
the  centre  of  a  silk  bandanna  handkerchief,  his  choicest 
piece  of  finery,  folded  the  latter  in  close  bands,  and, 
passing  it  over  the  top  of  his  head,  tied  the  ends  under 
his  chin.  Tickled  at  the  ingenious  conceit,  he  walked 
out  until  the  water  reached  his  neck,  and  swam  leisurely 
up-stream,  pausing,  every  hundred  yards  or  so,  to  listen 
for  paddles  or  voices. 

A  shimmering  veil  had  shorn  the  sun  of  rays  during 
the  day,  without  mitigating  the  heat.  It  now  hid  the 
stars,  but  a  strange  glow,  like  that  of  red-hot  metal, 
lay  upon  the  river.  The  west  was  inky,  and  the  play 
of  heat-lightning  showed  the  cause  of  this  depth  of 
gloom  to  be  a  horizon-line  of  jagged  cloud.  Whispers 
and  puffs  of  sultry  air  crisped  the  breast  of  the  wTater. 
The  swimmer  soon  made  out  the  outline  of  the  schooner, 
not  at  anchor,  but  lying  becalmed  in  mid-stream.  Be- 
N  t  25 


290  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

side  the  feeble  rays  of  the  binnacle-light,  the  deck  was 
dark,  but  two  of  the  port-holes  were  faintly  illumined. 
Upon  the  weird  glimmer  of  the  water  near  the  black 
hulk  was  something  like  a  blot  with  edges  blurred  by 
the  encompassing  dusks.  Caliban  had  floated  and 
swum  at  a  safe  distance  from  it  for,  perhaps,  fifteen 
minutes,  when  some  one  who  appeared  to  lean  over  the 
guards  in  the  fore-part  of  the  deck,  just  above  the 
moveless  blot,  called,  rather  cautiously  than  loudly, — 

"Halloo,  there,  Roger!" 

"  Ya'as,  suh  !"  responded  a  negro's  drowsy  voice. 

"  Cast  off  your  rope  there,  and  go  home.  The  cap 
tain  has  to  send  a  boat  up  the  river  in  an  hour  or  so, 
and  Mr.  Francis  says  he  will  wait  and  go  back  in 
her." 

"  Ya'as,  suh  !" 

The  oars  rattled  in  the  rowlocks,  and  the  blot 
spread  into  the  blackness  beyond. 

Caliban  flattened  himself  into  the  water.  He  could 
not  dive  without  wetting  the  top  of  his  head.  The 
Berkeley  boatman,  a  dull-witted  and  indolent  giant, 
only  recognized  the  voice,  disguised  by  falsetto  inflec 
tions,  as  that  of  one  in  authority,  and  obeyed,  unques- 
tioningly.  The  unseen  listener's  senses,  naturally 
acute  and  whetted  by  hatred,  could  not  mistake  it. 
Bass  was  on  the  schooner,  and  with  power.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  bold  expedition,  an  eerie  dread  crept 
over  the  lad.  If  he  waited  the  hour  or  so,  and 
swam  after  the  schooner's  boat,  the  chances  were  that 
his  enemy  would  be  in  it,  and  how  could  he  deliver 
Miss  Evelyn's  despatch  with  the  secrecy  she  had 
enjoined  ? 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  291 

A  blaze  of  lightning  split  the  horizon-cloud  in  two, 
and  showed  the  toothed  edges  rising  into  peaks.  A 
flaw  of  wind  rocked  the  vessel  uneasily,  and  brought 
the  angry  mutter  of  thunder.  By  the  flash,  Caliban 
saw,  nestled  close  under  the  hull  of  the  schooner  and 
fastened  to  it  by  a  rope,  the  stolen  skiff!  To  swim  up 
to  it,  cast  off  the  line,  clamber  into  the  seat,  and  grasp 
the  oars,  \yas  the  work  of  a  minute,  and  he  felt  him 
self  master  of  the  field,  whether  flight  or  strategy  were 
to  be  the  order  of  the  night.  While  uncertain  on  this 
point,  he  would  lie  by  and  be  vigilant. 

The  cloud,  rocking  before  winds  that  as  yet  drove 
but  shallow  furrows  across  the  water,  was  seen  by  the 
next  flash,  towering  to  the  zenith.  The  river-rat  looked 
anxiously  at  it : 

"  I'd  make  a  run  fur  Ian'  ef  I  could  git  red  o'  dat  'ar 
letter!"  he  said,  half-aloud.  "  Dar's  gwine  ter  be  a 
harrykin,  ef  I'm  any  jedge  o'  signs.  An'  dis  boat  ain' 
much  better  V  er  aigshell  fur  dat  kin'  o'  wuk  !" 

He  pulled  the  skiff  entirely  around  the  schooner, 
from  the  deck  of  which  he  now  heard  the  tramp  of 
hurrying  feet  and  the  hoarse  call  of  the  captain's  voice. 
The  men  were  making  ready  for  the  gale.  The  boat 
would  not  be  lowered  until  it  was  over.  He  had  just 
made  up  his  mind  to  turn  his  skiff  shoreward,  and  to 
revisit  the  schooner  when  the  danger  should  have 
passed,  when  the  port-hole  nearest  him  was  dashed 
open,  and  a  voice  like  a  trumpet-call  pierced  the  dark 
ness, — 

"  Ho,  there  !  Roger !  where  are  you?" 

"  I'se  hyur,  Mr.  Francis,  suh  !''  cried  the  boy,  in 
shrill  excitement.  "What  mils'  I  do,  suh?" 


292  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Go  to  Berkeley,  and  tell " 

Caliban — standing  erect  in  the  skiff,  holding  her 
away  from  the  hull  of  the  schooner  with  an  oar — never 
heard  the  rest. 

At  the  sound  of  his  voice,  a  head  was  thrust  over 
the  taffrail, — a  face  was  seen  distinctly  by  the  blinding 
pour  of  blue  flame  over  heavens  and  earth  ;  there  was 
a  flash  of  redder  fire,  a  report  was  lost  in  the  bursting 
thunder,  and  the  skiff  was  flying  down  the  river  before 
the  scud  and  roar  of  the  gale. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

COLONEL  BYKD  and  his  guests  watched  the  tornado 
from  the  windows  of  the  drawing-room  after  the  vio 
lence  of  the  wind  drove  them  in-doors.  At  the  zenith, 
the  black  cloud  took  the  form  of  a  huge  funnel,  the 
conical  end  descending  rapidly  until  it  touched  the 
river.  There  it  tore  along,  an  awful  besom  of  devasta 
tion,  a  bellowing  monster  with  outs \vooping  arms,  lust 
ful  for  prey.  The  play  of  the  lightning  was  incessant 
and  vivid,  and  from  their  outlook  the  gentlemen  saw, 
so  near  the  Westover  pier  it  seemed  impossible  that 
she  should  not  dash  against  it,  a  schooner  racing  before 
the  wind  under  bare  poles.  The  livid  glare  showed 
every  taut  rope  and  that  her  deck  was  empty. 

A  shuddering  groan  broke  from  the  group ;  then, 
they  waited  in  breathless  silence  for  the  next  flash. 
The  flying  craft  was  already  almost  out  of  sight. 

"  That   was   The  Mocking-JBird !"  said    Lieutenant 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  293 

May  11  a  I'd.  "  The  gale  has  broken  her  loose  from  her 
moorings.  Her  skipper  keeps  her  nose  well  before  the 
wind,  but  unless  he  knows  the  channel  better  than  he 
knows  his  prayers,  and  she  obeys  the  rudder  uncom 
monly  well,  I  wouldn't  give  a  pinch  of  rappee  for  the 
chances  of  schooner  or  crew." 

"  The  Lord  have  mercy  upon  their  souls !"  said  Mr. 
Randolph,  fervently. 

"  Amen !  and  upon  those  of  honester  men !"  re 
sponded  Colonel  Byrd.  "  'Tis  an  ugly  outlook,  gen 
tlemen  !  We  will  have  in  lights  and  bar  it  out." 

A  footman,  upon  whose  complexion  yellow-gray 
ashes  had  settled,  answered  the  bell,  and  brought  in 
candles.  About  the  flame  of  each  hovered  a  sallow 
halo  which  the  negro  regarded,  awe-stricken,  when  he 
had  set  them  on  the  table. 

"  What  are  you  about,  blockhead  ?"  demanded  the 
Master.  "  Light  the  chandelier  !" 

The  shaking  hands  did  the  work  awkwardly,  and, 
as  a  terrific  stream  of  blue  fire  filled  the  room,  the 
flambeau  upheld  to  the  wax  candles  dropped  to  the 
floor,  and  the  fellow  to  his  knees. 

His  master  laughed,  good-humoredly. 

"  It  is  lucky  that  the  fall  extinguished  the  torch,  or 
we  might  have  been  roasted — a  worse  fate,  I  judge,  than 
being  frightened  to  death.  '  The  devil  damn  thee  black, 
thou  cream-faced  loon  !'  Get  you  gone  and  send  Cali 
ban  hither.  He  has  brains  in  his  skull,  and  keeps  his 
head  in  the  right  place." 

The  negro  picked  himself  up,  and,  knock-kneed  and 
with  chattering  teeth,  tried  to  articulate. 

"  Please,  suh,  I  was   skeered !     Beg   your  pardon, 

1'5* 


294  SIS  GREAT  SELF. 

suh  !  An'  Caliban,  be — O  Lord  !"  crouching  behind 
a  chair  at  another  flood  of  flame  and  bursting  report. 

"  Speak  louder,  my  good  fellow  !"  The  Master  was 
amiably  amused.  "The  thunder  outbellows  you.  '  Cali 
ban,  he'— what?" 

"  He  am'  hyur,  marster,  ef  you  please,  suh  !" 

"  We  can  see  that  for  ourselves,  and  it  does  not  please 
me !  Shall  I  kick  you  out  before  you  will  go  to  look 
for  him?" 

"  Please,  suh,  he  am'  nowhar  !" 

The  Colonel  took  snuff  patiently. 

"My  man  !  you  must  know  that,  dead  or  alive,  one 
is  always  somewhere !  Go,  fetch  Caliban — or  his 
corpse  !  He  would  be  livelier  dead  than  you  at  your 
living  best !" 

"  Ya'as,  suh !"  cowering  before  the  almond-shaped 
eyes  more  abjectly  than  at  the  lightning.  "Caliban, 
he  ain'  been  'bout  hyur  nowhar  fur  right  smart  time 
now,  suh !  One  de  chillun  say  he  reckon  he  been 
gone  to  de  riber  fur  er  swim.  He  seed  him  go  dat  ar 
way  'bout  a  hour  ago,  an'  he  ain'  been  sawed  sence." 

"  Go,  light  your  torch,  and  come  back  to  finish  what 
you  were  doing.  Tell  Osiris  to  bring  in  pipes  and 
tobacco,"  said  the  Master,  coolly. 

"  I  hope  no  harm  has  come  to  the  boy !"  observed 
Maynard,  when  the  footman  had  departed.  "  He  is  a 
likely  young  rascal." 

"  A  good  scare  would  be  wholesome  for  one  of  his 
kidney,"  returned  the  Colonel,  in  unruffled  serenity. 
"  He  has  more  brain  than  any  other  negro  I  have,  but 
he  is  too  bumptious.  A  more  daring,  venturesome 
young  devil  never  danced  upon  bare  toes.  He  will 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  295 

fare  better  than  likely  if  he  do  not  dangle  from  a 
hempen  noose  at  the  length." 

"  American  hemp,  I  suppose  ?''  said  Mr.  Randolph, 
dryly. 

"  Nay — that  is  one  of  Spotswood's  hobbies,  not  mine. 
He  would  insist  that  I  should  sow  the  seed  of  our 
native  hemp  upon  a  fat  acre  of  my  low  grounds,  and 
make  fair  essay  of  it.  He  has  tried  the  experiment, 
and  it  came  up  very  thick.  He  sent  about  five  hun 
dred  pounds  of  it  to  England,  and  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Navy,  after  a  full  trial  of  it,  reported  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Admiralty  that  it  was  equal  in  goodness 
to  the  best  that  comes  from  Riga.  Set  that  tray  here, 
Osiris.  What  is  it?"  seeing  the  butler  fall  into  an 
attitude  of  respectful  waiting. 

"  Please,  suh,  my  mistis  would  like  to  know  if  you 
think  there  is  any  danger?" 

The  chief  butler,  having  stood  for  a  score  of  years 
behind  the  Colonel's  chair  at  home  and  abroad,  had 
taken  on  by  natural  accretion  a  veneer  of  speech  and 
demeanor  that  suggested  a  ludicrous  resemblance  to  his 
model.  In  the  thickest  of  meteorological  phenomena 
that  had  driven  his  compeers  in  service  to  their  prayers 
in  the  darkest  corners  they  could  find,  he  bore  himself 
like  a  man,  and  that  man,  Colonel  Byrd. 

"My  compliments  to  your  mistress,  and  say  that,  in 
Lieutenant  Maynard's  opinion,  the  gale  is  expending 
itself  as  rapidly  as  could  be  desired  or  expected,  and, 
therefore,  is  more  nearly  exhausted  than  it  was  a  while 
ago.  Say,  moreover,  that  Lieutenant  Maynard  is  an 
authority  upon  gales  and  that  his  word  is  of  value." 

"  Yes,  suh  !" 


296  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

Without  the  twitch  of  a  muscle,  Osiris  bowed  ami 
backed  himself  out.  In  equal  gravity,  the  Colonel 
proceeded  with  the  dissertation  upon  American  hemp  : 

"I  told  the  Governor  if  our  hemp  were  never  so 
good,  it  would  not  be  worth  the  making  here,  even 
though  they  should  continue  the  bounty.  And  my 
reason  was  because  labor  is  not  more  than  twopence  a 
day  in  the  East  where  they  produce  hemp,  and  here 
we  can't  compute  it  at  less  than  tenpence,  and  consid 
ering  besides,  that  our  freight  is  three  times  as  dear  as 
theirs,  the  price  that  will  make  them  rich  will  ruin  us, 
as  I  have  found  by  woful  experience." 

"  You  have  the  air  and  appurtenances  of  a  pauper," 
put  in  Mr.  Randolph,  glancing  from  the  stately  figure  in 
the  tall-backed  chair  to  the  silver  aud  cut-arlass  flushing 

O  O 

back  the  fitful  play  of  wax-lights  and  lightning. 

"  Moreover,"  went  on  the  imperturbable  lecturer, 
"if  the  King,  who  must  have  the  refusal,  buys  our 
hemp,  the  Navy  is  so  long  in  paying  both  the  price  and 
the  bounty  that  we,  who  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  can't 
afford  to  wait  so  long  for  it.  Ah  !  Mayuard  is  put 
upon  his  mettle  by  the  responsibility  cast  upon  him  by 
my  message  to  my  Lady." 

The  Lieutenant  was  at  the  window,  shielding  his  eyes 
with  his  arched  hands  to  obtain  a  better  view  of  the 
tempestuous  outer  world.  He  deigned  no  reply,  and 
the  Colonel  gave  another  pull  at  his  hempen  thread  : 

"  And  then,  our  good  friends,  the  merchants,  load  it 
with  so  many  charges  that  they  run  away  with  great 
part  of  the  profit  themselves.  Just  like  the  bald  eagle 
which,  after  the  fishing-hawk  has  been  at  great  pains  to 
natch  a  fish,  pounces  upon  and  takes  it  from  him." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  297 

"I  would  give  all  the  hemp  in  both  hemispheres/' 
M ay n a rcl  wheeled  about  to  interject,  "  to  be  assured  that 
naught  human  is  abroad  to-night !" 

"  Unless  it  be  smuggler  or  buccaneer/'  subjoined  the 
Colonel.  "  Tush,  man  !  take  a  stiff  glass  of  braudy- 
and-water,  gird  up  the  loins  of  your  spirit,  and  forget 
the  hurt  you  cannot  help  !" 

"  Brandy — evren  such  as  your  poetical  English  guest 
likened  to  topaz,  honey,  and  oil — cannot  stupefy  a  brave 
man  into  forgetting  that,  while  he  has  a  tight  roof 
above  his  head,  better  and  braver  men  than  he  may  be 
perishing  beyond  the  reach  of  mortal  aid." 

The  delicate  curves  of  the  host's  mouth  straightened  ; 
the  cleft  in  the  chin  was  shallow  ;  the  broad  lids  drooped 
over  the  eyes.  He  chose  his  words  deliberately  and 
critically. 

"I  have  ever  discouraged  in  myself  and  others,  my 
dear  Lieutenant,  the  disposition  to  sentimentalize  over 
seeming  evils  which  are  of  our  own  deliberate  brewing, 
or  the  dispensation  of  an  all-wise  Creator.  I  have 
somewhat  that  I  wot  of  at  stake  in  this  storm, — which 
I  would  remember  is  none  of  my  work, — and  per 
chance  more  than  I  have  knowledge  of.  GOD  knows" 
— reverently — "  that  the  thought  of  the  loss  of  human 
life  is  unspeakably  dreadful  to  me.  Whatever  of  suf 
fering,  merited  or  undeserved,  I  may  impose  upon  my 
fellows,  my  skirts  are  clear  of  so  much  as  the  desire 
of  bloodshed.  These  things  being  so,  is  it  not  the 
Christian's  part,  when  Providence  has  put  a  snug  roof 
over  his  head  and  stanch  walls  about  him,  and  good 
brandy  that  maketh  strong  the  heart  of  man  before 
him,  to  say  for  himself  and  for  those  exposed,  by 


298  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

ordinance  of  the  same  wise  Providence,  to  the  horrors 
of  wreck  by  land  and  sea, — '  The  will  of  the  Lord  be 
done  !' " 

The  fury  of  the  tempest  was  spent  by  midnight.  Up 
to  that  time  the  party  in  the  drawing-room  sat  over 
pipes  and  glasses,  spell-bound  by  the  rare  personal 
magnetism  which  was  the  pre-eminent  gift  of  their 
philosophical  entertainer. 

He  bade  them  a  cheery  "  Good-night,  and  only  such 
dreams  as  they  would  pray  to  have  visit  them  !"  a  smile 
upon  lip  and  in  eyes,  and  when  all  had  gone  drew  back 
the  ponderous  bolt  of  the  front  door,  and  stepped  out 
upon  the  stone  platform.  The  moon  was  not  up,  but  a 
diffused  brightness  along  the  eastern  horizon  betokened 
her  approach.  The  rain  had  ceased  ;  the  lower  currents 
of  air  were  sobbing  penitently  in  the  wet  trees,  more 
scantily  clothed  than  at  sunset ;  the  higher  were  tearing 
crevices  in  the  clouds  through  which  tremulous  stars 
peeped  down.  The  world  was  sweet  with  the  smell  of 
the  rain  and  the  fallen,  leaves.  They  were  a  sodden 
carpet  under  the  watcher's  feet  as  he  walked  down  the 
rose-alley  toward  the  calycanthus  gate,  bareheaded,  his 
hands  clasped  behind  him.  At  the  gate  he  halted  to 
gaze  toward  the  quarter  in  which  the  madly-scudding 
vessel  had  disappeared. 

As  the  winds  died  down,  the  wash  and  roll  of  the 
river,  the  wrath  into  which  the  gale  had  lashed  it,  still 
unappeased,  were  audible ;  the  odor  of  bruised  and 
soaked  roses  was  joined  to  the  stronger  breath  from  the 
dying  leaves  ;  in  the  clear  fields  of  heaven  a  thousand 
stars  shone  limpid  ;  a  slim  crest  of  silver  showed  itself 
above  the  eastern  line  of  forest.  Nature  was  mar- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  299 

shall  ing  all  gracious  and  soothing  forces  to  atone  for 
the  paroxysm  of  rage  that  had  spared  not  her  best- 
beloved. 

The  Colonel  looked  and  listened  for  long.  Exqui 
sitely  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  beauty  and  music, 
he  threw  open  the  windows  of  his  soul  to  admit  the 
white  peace  these  inspired. 

"I  had  no  hand  in  this!"  he  said,  aloud,  at  last. 
11  Whatever  I  may  have  willed,  the  doing  and  the  end 
are  GOD'S  !" 

In  passing  along  the  upper  hall  to  his  own  room,  he 
saw  a  line  of  liffht  under  his  daughter's  door.  It 

~  o 

burned  all  night,  and  the  woman  who  watched  beside 
it  never  slept.  Walking,  kneeling,  sometimes  prostrate 
upon  the  floor  in  abandonment  of  anguished  suspense, 
she  dragged  out  the  terrible,  endless  hours  to  the  dawn 
of  what  should  be  her  marriage-day. 

By  sunrise  she  was  on  the  road  to  Berkeley.  Wan, 
wild-eyed, — her  feet,  drenched  with  wet,  seeming  to  her 
frenzied  self  to  lag  like  lead, — she  sped  down  the  garden- 
path,  past  the  church-yard  that  was  to  have  echoed  her 
bridal  vows,  across  the  fields  as  the  crow  flies,  with 
never  a  glance  at  the  river  wallowing  tawnily  to  her 
left,  yet  seeing  naught  with  the  mind's  eye  but  the 
hungry  torrent.  A  lorn,  bedraggled  ghost,  she  thus 
burst  into  a  group  collected  upon  the  lawn,  all  looking 
at  the  river,  all  pallid  with  unsaid  fears. 

Martha  Jaqueline  was  first  to  see  her,  and  ran  toward 
her  with  a  great  cry  of  horror  and  surprise. 

"  My  darling  !  my  darling  !  how  came  you  here?" 

The  women — there  were  none  but  women  there — • 
gathered  about  her,  tears  contending  with  the  deceitful 


300  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

cheer  they  would  have  brought.  Evelyn  caught  hold 
of  Miss  Lotsie. 

"  Where  is  he  ?"  whispered  the  parched  lips — de 
manded  the  wide  eyes. 

The  spinster  lifted  her  in  her  powerful  arms  and 
carried  her  with  loving  violence  into  the  hall.  As  she 

o 

went,  she  said  :  "  We  haven't  given  up  hope,  yet. 
Compose  yourself.  He  may  come  !" 

She  got  dry  shoes  and  stockings  for  her ;  wrapped 
her  in  a  blanket,  and  fed  her  with  hot  negus  and  toast. 
Martha,  seated  upon  the  floor,  Evelyn's  hands  in  hers, 
told  her,  as  was  merciful,  all  that  was  known  as  yet. 
The  gale  had  caught  the  Berkeley  boat  on  its  way  back 
from  the  schooner,  as  Evelyn's  fears  had  divined. 
When  neither  of  the  occupants  returned,  Mr.  Harrison 
had  got  ready  a  gang  of  men  as  soon  as  the  storm 
abated,  and  with  boats  had  spent  the  remainder  of  the 
night  on  the  river.  Five  miles  below  the  Berkeley 
landing  they  came  upon  the  missing  boat,  floating  bot 
tom  upward.  Upon  the  opposite  shore,  three  miles 
higher  up,  lodged  against  a  tree,  was  the  body  of  the 
negro  boatman.  He  had  apparently  clung  to  the  lowest 
boughs  when  exhausted  by  swimming,  and  been  beaten 
to  death  by  the  waves  that  had  drifted  his  corpse  inland. 
His  fists  still  clutched  leaves  and  grasses.  His  com 
panion  had  not  been  found,  but  the  boats  were  still 
out. 

Evelyn  heard  it  without  tear  or  sound,  and  then  lay 
motionless,  gazing  at  the  ceiling  with  eyes  set  in  awful- 
ness  of  despair.  Mrs.  Harrison's  caresses  and  Martha's 
fondest  exhortations  to  hope,  did  not  win  a  look  or  sign. 
Miss  Lotsie  sent,  privately,  a  note  to  Mrs.  Byrd,  telling 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  301 

what  had  happened,  and  sat  down  with  the  other  women 
to  wait,  with  folded  hands  and  sinking  heart,  for  the 
worst,  if  there  were  a  worse  woe  to  come. 

Two  hours  went  by,  and  there  was  no  news  from  the 
water. 

"Ben  will  not  come  home  until  he  has  something  to 
tell,"  Mrs.  Harrison  said,  once.  "  He  blames  himself 
bitterly  for  allowing  the  boat  to  go  without  him.  But 
it  was  thought  best  that  he  should  not  appear  openly  in 
the  affair,  lest  it  might  breed  trouble  at  Westover,  or 
some  of  the  crew,  recognizing  him,  might  bruit  the 
news  of  his  visit  abroad.  He  regrets,  now,  that  he 
yielded  to  what  was  most  thoughtful  and  generous  in 
— our  friend." 

The  colorless  mouth  stirred  ever  so  little,  but  without 
voice.  Even  praise  of  him  she  had  lost  could  not  gal 
vanize  the  palsied  nerves.  Tears  flowed  silently  down 
Martha's  cheeks,  dropped  upon  her  friend's  hands,  and 
lay  there  until  Martha  wiped  them  off. 

As  she  did  it,  she  felt  a  thrill  like  an  electric  shock 
run  through  Evelyn's  frame ;  her  head  was  raised  ; 
into  the  dull  despair  of  the  fixed  eyes  shot  a  ray. 
Before  Martha  could  hinder  her,  she  sprang  from  the 
sofa,  was  at  the  door  and  upon  the  lawn,  and  was  run 
ning  down  to  the  pier  like  a  mad  thing.  The  others 
followed,  hurrying  the  faster  as  they  caught  sight  of  a 
boat  approaching  with  a  smaller  one  in  tow. 

Mr.  Harrison  shouted  to  them  from  the  foremost : 

"  Go  back !  go  back  !  and  send  some  men  to  me  !" 

Only  his  wife  hesitated,  and  she  but  an  instant. 
Evelyn  was  at  the  landing  before  the  larger  boat  touched 
it.  With  a  look  he  never  forgot,  she  leaped  into  it, 

2*5 


302  MS    GREAT  SELF. 

passed  Mr.  Harrison  and  the  oarsmen  ere  one  could 
raise  a  finger  to  stay  her,  seized  the  tow-line  and  pulled 
the  skiff  within  reach  of  her  hand.  Something  in  the 
bottom  was  covered  by  a  cloak. 

"  For  GOD'S  sake  !"  ejaculated  Mr.  Harrison,  darting 
forward. 

He  was  too  late.  Her  swifter  movement  had  torn 
aside  the  cloak  and  revealed  the  ghastly  features  of  poor 
Caliban  !  A  bloody  bandage  was  about  his  head  ;  his 
eyes  were  closed;  the  displaced  covering  exposed  his 
naked  shoulders  and  chest. 

The  girl  staggered  back  into  Mr.  Harrison's  arms ; 
threw  up  her  hands  with  a  piercing  shriek,  and  fainted. 
They  bore  her  to  the  house,  and  close  after  her  the 
senseless  figure  they  had  thought  breathless  when  found. 
The  skiff  had  been  driven  into  a  small  inlet,  and, 
wedged  among  the  bulrushes,  like  the  ark  of  the 
Hebrew  infant,  had  outlived  the  tempest  that  foundered 
the  larger  craft.  There,  exposed  to  the  rain  and  gale, 
the  insensible  lad  had  lain  for  twelve  hours,  the  flags, 
beaten  flat  by  wind  and  rain,  masking  the  creek  and 
deluding  the  eyes  of  the  search-party.  His  condition 
was  a  dense  mystery.  The  puzzle  of  his  presence, 
naked,  in  Evelyn's  skiff,  and  how  he  received  his 
wound,  was  complicated  by  the  surgeon's  announcement 
that  he  had  been  shot,  the  bullet  fracturing  the  skull. 
But  for  the  banded  handkerchief  about  his  head,  it 
must  have  entered  the  brain  and  caused  instant  death. 

"He  may  live  a  few  hours,"  the  surgeon  was  saying 
as  Mrs.  Harrison,  too  anxious  to  wait  longer  without 
the  chamber,  appeared  to  inquire  if  she  could  be  of 
service.  "  But  the  end  is  certain,  and  not  distant." 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  303 

Mrs.  Harrison's  eyes  filled. 

"  Poor  child  !"  she  murmured.  "  Who  could  have 
had  the  heart  to  hurt  him  ?  I  should  have  said  he  had 
not  an  enemy  in  the  world  !" 

"  I  fear  me  much  that  his  own  misdoing  led  to  this 
end,  my  dear  lady  !"  said  familiar  tones,  and  Colonel 
Byrd,  of  whose  presence  in  the  house  she  was  not 
aware,  stepped  from  behind  the  bed-curtains.  "  I 
caught  him,  three  nights  ago,  in  the  act  of  stripping  to 
swim  out  to  a  net  set  by  one  of  the  field-hands.  He  is 
a  born  poacher — thanks  to  both  of  his  parents.  He 
was  pert  with  his  fellows,  too,  and  tricksome.  But  I 
could  better  have  spared  a  dozen  better  servants  !" 

The  handkerchief  taken  from  the  wounded  head, 
soaked  with  blood  and  water,  had  been  tossed  into  a 
corner,  and  the  folds  falling  apart  showed  green  leaves, 
pressed  oddly  together.  Mrs.  Harrison  took  it  up, 
gingerly,  while  the  Colonel  talked  with  the  surgeon, 
and  there  fell  out  a  parcel  bound  flat  with  twine. 
Taking  it  over  to  the  window,  she  undid  it  and  took 
out  a  sealed  letter  stained  and  wet.  The  blurred 
address  was  "  To  Mr.  Francis"  and  the  billet  was 
secured  by  strands  of  dark  hair  caught  under  the  seal 
Evelyn  Byrd  always  used. 

Mrs.  Harrison  escaped,  unnoticed,  from  the  chamber, 
and  ran  with  the  fresh  mystery  to  Martha  Jaqueline. 

Neither  of  the  loyal  friends  would  break  the  wax 
while  there  was  a  probability  that  Evelyn  might  re 
vive  sufficiently  to  explain  this  turn  in  the  enigma. 
Nor  was  a  hint  given  to  Colonel  Byrd  that  the  supposed 
poacher  was  the  messenger,  leal  and  ingenious,  between 
his  daughter  and  her  lover. 


304  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

But  the  discovery  added  tenderest  assiduity  to  the 
nursing  bestowed  upon  the  hapless  boy  whose  days  were 
numbered. 


CHAPTER    XXIY. 

MADAM  BYKD  and  Miss  Lotsie  divided  the  duties 
of  chief  nurse  in  the  temporary  hospital  set  up  at 
Berkeley.  Evelvn  rallied  from  her  swoon  only  to 
relapse  into  a  stupor  that  lasted  all  day  and  far  into  the 
night.  Her  step-mother  and  Martha  Jaqueline,  watch 
ing  beside  her  at  midnight,  saw  the  beautiful  eyes 
unclose  suddenly  in  the  glare  of  delirium.  She  plucked 
at  her  ring,  muttering  rapidly  under  her  breath  : 

"To  make  room  for  another  that  will  mean  liberty 
and  love  !  liberty  and  love  !  Mother  Mary  and  the 
holy  angels  !  Mother  Mary  !  Moth-er — Ma-ry  !" 

The  mutter  became  a  drowsy  whisper. 

Madam  Byrd's  eyes  dilated  with  horror. 

"  He  has  proselyted  her  !"  she  whispered  to  her  com 
panion.  "  Oh  !  if  this  be  so,  it  is  better  she  should  die  ! 
Her  father  would  sooner  see  her  in  her  coffin  !" 

"  When  she  is  there,  it  will  be  religious  bigotry  and 
wicked  hatred  that  have  murdered  her  !"  retorted 
Martha,  in  righteous  asperity.  Then,  melting  into 
tears,  "  O,  my  lamb  !  my  pretty  !  that  I  should  live  to 
see  you  thus  !  He  called  you  his  '  lily  among  thorns  !' 
Thorns  that  have  let  your  sweet  life  out!" 

At  the  warm  rain  upon  the  restless  hands  the  loving 
hold  could  not  confine,  Evelyn  opened  her  eyes  again. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  305 

Holy,  chastened  light  flowed  over  her  face  ;  her  voice 
was  unearthly  in  musical  speech,  with  a  tender  under 
tone  of  solemnity.  It  was  like  a  martyr's  death-chant. 

"  1,  Evelyn,  take  thee,  Charles,  to  my  wedded  hus 
band,  to  have  and  to  hold  from  t/iis  day  forward,  for 
better,  for  worse,  for  richer,  for  poorer,  in  sickness  and  in 

health,  to  love,  cherish,  and  to  obey, — till — death  do 

us — part  /" 

Martha  Jaqueline  looked  upward,  as  the  accents 
trembled  into  an  awful  stillness. 

"In  the  name  of  GOD,  Amen!"  she  cried.  "This 
was  to  have  been  their  bridal  hour,  and  the  wrath  of 
man  cannot  put  them  asunder.  In  the  sight  of  heaven 
and  the  holy  angels,  they  are  wedded,  and  you  and  I 
are  the  earthly  witnesses  !" 

Colonel  Byrd  carried  a  heavy  heart  homeward  from 
his  visit  on  Tuesday  morning.  Caliban  lay  in  a  deathly 
lethargy,  only  showing  that  he  was  alive  by  breathing. 
Evelyn  was  raving  with  brain-fever. 

"  Talking  herself  to  death  !"  was  her  step-mother's 
report  to  the  father.  "She  will  have  none  near  her 
but  Martha,  and  Lotsie  Johnson,  and  Anne  Harrison. 
Me,  she  will  not  abide.  She  mistakes  me  for  Sycorax, 
the  mother  of  Caliban  in  Shakespeare's  '  Tempest.'  I 
have  always  protested,  Colonel,  that  no  good  could  come 
of  your  giving  servants  such  heathenish  names.  The 
poor  child  fainted  at  sight  of  the  hole  in  Caliban's 
head;  and  she  and  Mr.  Francis — I  would  say,  'Lord 
Peterborough  !' — and  Martha  Jaqueline  and  Mr.  Fon 
taine  made  a  play  of  reading  'The  Tempest'  aloud  the 
day  before  the  races,  and  all  has  got  mixed  up  together 
in  her  brain. 

«  2G* 


306  U1S   GREAT  SELF. 

"  And  no  mortal  will  ever  know  what  the  poor  dear 
went  through  on  Sunday  night,  knowing  as  she  did — 
although  I  had  no  idea  of  it — that  he  was  on  the  water 
just  at  that  hour,  and  in  that  terrific  storm.  Do  you 
suppose,  Colonel,  there  is  the  shadow  of  a  hope  that  he 
is  alive  ?" 

"  How  the  devil  should  /  know,  Madam  ?"  growled 
her  irate  consort. 

He  said  it  over  to  himself  many  times,  with  many 
variations,  riding  slowly  along  the  road,  head  depressed 
and  eyes  dreary. 

It  was  uppermost  in  his  mind  when,  entering  his 
study,  he  beheld  his  secretary  bent  over  the  vellum 
MSS.,  his  pen  moving  as  sedately  as  if  he  had  not  taken 
it  from  the  page,  except  to  dip  it  into  the  staudish,  since 
he  had  sat  in  the  same  place  last  Saturday  afternoon. 
He  had,  as  has  been  stated,  left  Westover  on  horseback 
Sunday,  after  dinner,  with  the  expressed  intention  of 
spending  that  night  and  Monday — perhaps  Monday 
night — with  friends  in  Williamsburg.  On  horseback 
he  had  returned  while  the  Colonel  was  at  Berkeley; 
heard,  without  comment  or  visible  emotion,  the  tragic 
story  of  Roger's  death,  Caliban's  wound,  and  Evelyn's 
illness,  and,  after  calling  for  a  biscuit  and  a  glass  of 
cool  milk,  settled  into  the  oiled  groove  of  his  every- day 
life. 

The  kitchen-cabinet,  convened  at  an  irregular  hour, 
and  with  safety,  in  the  absence  of  master  and  mistress, 
declared,  with  no  ado  of  discussion,  that  "  he  hadn't  no 
mo'  heart  'n  thar  is  in  a  bull  tadpole." 

Himself  was  better  pleased  with  himself  than  usual. 
Napoleon  proclaimed  Providence  to  be  on  the  side  that 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  307 

had  the  heaviest  artillery.  Mr.  Colin  Bass,  after  inspec 
tion  of  his  muniments,  greeted  Providence  as  a  redoubt 
able  and  indubitable  ally. 

He  arose  to  salute  his  superior  in  ceremonious  defer 
ence — thrown  away  upon  the  anxious  parent. 

"Ah!  Good-morrow,  Bass!"  he  said,  laying  off  his 
hat  and  pushing  back  the  hair  from  a  forehead  creased 
by  a  faint  line  that  was  not  there  at  their  parting. 
"  When  did  you  get  back?" 

"  About  an  hour  ago,  sir." 

"  You  had  a  prosperous  visit,  I  hope  ?" 

"  Reasonably  pleasant,  I  thank  you,  sir.  My  friend's 
wife  was  quite  ill  all  of  yesterday  in  consequence  of 
fright  at  the  tornado  of  Sunday  night.  Otherwise,  all 
went  well." 

The  Colonel  had  dropped  heavily  into  his  chair,  and 
sat,  drumming  upon  the  desk  with  his  elegant  finger 
nails,  staring  at  the  opposite  wall. 

"  You  have  heard,  I  suppose,  what  has  happened 
hereabouts  since  you  went?" 

"  Of  Miss  Byrd's  illness ;  the  drowning  of  one  of 
the  Berkeley  boatmen,  and  that  Caliban  was  shot,  by 
accident,  or  of  design,  upon  the  river  yesternight? 
Yes,  sir.  I  regret  that  I  should  have  been  absent  at  a 
time  when  I  might  have  been  of  service  to  you." 

The  drumming  went  on,  and  the  Colonel  had  not 
removed  his  gaze  from  a  fixed  point. 

"The  Mocking-Bird  was  driven  out  to  sea  by  the 
gale,  and  has  not  been  heard  from  since." 

"  That  is  news,  sir.  Is  it  certainly  known  that  she 
did  not  weigh  anchor  and  sail  of  her  own  accord,  with 
crew  ajid  passenger  on  board  ?" 


308  SIS   GREAT  SELF. 

The  Colonel  darted  a  look  of  fierce  impatience  at  the 
impassive  visage. 

"  Not  'certainly  known' ! it,  man !     How  could 

anything  be  certainly  known  in  such  a  of  a  gale? 

We  saw  her  drive  past  at  the  rate  of  a  knot  a  minute. 
Whether  or  not  anybody  save  the  crew  were  on  board  ; 
whether  the  Berkeley  boat  capsized  before  it  reached 
her,  or  after  leaving  her ;  whether  the  schooner  went 
down  out  of  soundings,  and  every  soul  on  board  found 
a  watery  grave,  or  if  she  outrode  the  gale,  and  is  now 
on  the  high  seas — HE,  alone,  who  sent  the  storm  can 
tell." 

The  secretary  reflected  a  minute  before  replying : 
"  In  any  event,  sir,  the  result  to  yourself  will  be 
the  same — for  awhile,  at  least.  If  the  schooner  were 
wrecked  and  if  her  passenger  have  perished,  you  have 
thrown  away  fifteen  hundred  pounds  which,  had  you 
been  endued  with  the  spirit  of  divination,  might  have 
been  saved." 

" the  money  !"  ejaculated  the  Colonel,  with  an 

irritable  motion  of  the  foot,  indicative  of  a  frantic 
inclination  to  kick  somebody. 

"Yes,  sir.  I  was  about  to  add,  that,  supposing  the 
vessel  to  be  safe,  the  fifteen  hundred  pounds  were  well 
expended  in  insuring  for  her  a  twelvemonth  cruise, 
with  the  guarantee  that  your  name  is  never  to  be  mixed 
up  in  the  affair.  The  involuntary  voyager  will  be  well 
treated,  and  allowed  the  liberty  of  the  schooner  except 
ing  at  such  times  as  his  confinement  between-decks  will 
be  a  matter  of  necessity  during  the  vessel's  stay  in  for 
eign  ports.  These  periods  being  few  and  far  between, 
it  can  easily  be  seen  that  no  hardship  need  befall  the 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  309 

noble  passenger.  He  left  England  for  an  uncertain 
period,  in  quest  of  adventure.  He  has  gotten  what  he 
sought/' — a  sardonic  smile,  pale  and  inclement,  flitting 
over  his  face.  "  It  will  be  long  before  inquiry  is  made 
for  him.  When  he  is  allowed  to  escape  from  the  vessel, 
it  will  be  in  China.  Before  the  story  of  his  kidnapping 
can  be  told  in  England,  The  Mocking-Blrd — thanks  to 
your  liberality — will  have  a  new  coat  of  paint,  a  new 
name,  new  colors,  a  new  skipper,  and  a  new  career,  or 
should  you  prefer,  she  will  be  deserted  and  scuttled. 
The  hardy  skipper  can  retire  upon  his  gains — or,  what 
is  the  more  likely,  can  turn  pirate  in  dead  earnest. 
You  will  have  gained  a  year  and  more  of  time,  with 
the  choice  between  the  belief  that  the  noble  peer  is 
seeking  his  pleasure  in  other  lands,  or  that  he  is  feed 
ing  the  fishes  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  He  took  his 
mails  on  board  on  the  very  night  on  which  the  schooner 
was  to  sail ;  he  went  with  her,  and  has  since  made  no 
sign,  although  alive  and  well.  Or — he  went  on  board, 
intending  to  revisit  his  friends  at  Berkeley — and  West- 
over  !  She  was  broken  from  her  moorings,  and  foun 
dered,  carrying  him  down  with  her.  Or — still  again, 
he  was  drowned  in  plebeian  association  with  negro 
Roger.  Any  one  of  these  beliefs  will  suit  your  turn, 
as  I  look  at  it." 

"  Oh  !  it  is  a  devilish  fine  plot,  I  grant  you,  and  you 
appear  to  be  devilish  proud  of  it,  to  judge  from  the 
zest  with  which  you  rehearse  the  particulars,  and  weigh 
the  pros  and  cons  of  a  living  death,  and  bodily  de 
cease.  Should  you  and  I,  between  us,  have  killed  that 
poor  girl " 

He  compressed  his  lips  to  stop  their  quivering. 


310  •HJS    GREAT  SELF. 

Almost  unknown  to  himself,  he  was  more  irked  by 
something  unnatural  and  unexpected  in  the  secretary's 
manner  of  stating  the  case  with  needless  circumstan 
tiality,  than  in  the  presentation  of  the  particulars  them 
selves.  Without  trenching  upon  disrespect,  the  man's 
tone  was  of  conscious  power ;  of  prideful  assurance 
that  to  him  his  patron  was  indebted  for  relief  from  an 
intolerable  weight,  and  that  he  meant  to  have  credit 
for  the  deed.  While  pretending  to  confer  with  his 
chief  at  every  step  of  the  audacious  undertaking,  his 
policy  of  partial  confidences  had  been  pursued  through 
out.  His  own  hoard  was  the  richer  bv  five  hundred 
pounds  for  the  care  of  the  Colonel's  reputation  that  led 
the  emissary  to  conduct  all  negotiations  in  his  own 
name.  Pie  had  prime  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
skipper  would  never  give  him  up  as  a  confederate,  and 
should  he  turn  king's  evidence,  the  Williamsburg  visit 
was  in  support  of  an  alibi. 

Roger,  who  might  have  known  his  voice  under  the 
falsetto  disguise,  was  dead  ;  Caliban,  who  had  called 
Francis  by  name,  and  looked  straight  at  Bass  as  the 
latter  shot  him,  would  soon  be  out  of  the  way.  Francis 
had  not  seen  him  on  the  vessel,  and  she  had  touched  at 
Norfolk  just  long  enough  to  put  Bass  ashore  in  the 
early  morning.  Had  not  the  diplomatist  cause  to  be 
content  with  the  work  of  his  own  brain  and  the  con 
nivance  of  Him  Who  holds  the  waters  in  the  hollow 
of  His  hand,  and  the  winds  in  His  fist? 

His  intention  not  to  mar  the  fair  emprise  by  letting 
the  Colonel  know  now,  or  ever,  that  lie  had  been  on 
The  Mockmg-Bird  on  Sunday  night,  and  run  a  com 
mon  risk  with  the  victim  of  the  plot,  in  the  headlong 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  311 

race  of  the  gallant  little  bark  to  the  mouth  of  the 
river — was  as  firm  as  his  design  of  making  the  impe 
rious  magnate  feel,  from  time  to  time,  the  bit  his  hire 
ling  had  clamped  upon  him.  The  scribe  was  guilty 
of  no  accidental  displays  of  feeling  or  temper.  The, 
for  him,  long  speech  to  his  employer  was  the  first  pull 
upon  the  rein,  and  it  had  told! 

"To  say  that  I  admire  the  scheme  I  have  re 
hearsed  to  relieve  your  apprehensions  would  describe 
my  feelings  more  fitly  than  to  say  that  I  am  'devilish 
proud'  of  it,"  he  returned,  provokingly  cool.  "If 
strategy  that  quails  not  at  possible  consequences  be 
novel  business  for  you,  allow  me  to  utter  my  admira 
tion  in  yet  fuller  measure.  If  I,  the  humblest  of  Miss 
Byrd's  admirers,  may  express  my  regret  at  her  illness, 
I  owe  the  privilege  to  her  father's  condescension." 

His  smirk  pointed  and  aimed  the  sentence.  The 
Colonel  started  up  and  grasped  his  riding- whip. 

"  You  hound  !" 

The  scribe  had  arisen  also,  his  lips  thinner  for  their 
sneer. 

"A  hound,  if  you  will,  Colonel  Byrd !  and  never 
more  entirely  at  his  master's  service  than  when  noble 
game  is  to  be  hunted  down — to  the  death  /" 

With  not  another  word,  the  unhappy  father — de 
based  for  the  first  time  in  his  own  eyes — sank  into  his 
chair  and  let  his  proud  head  fall  upon  the  arms  crossed 
on  the  desk-lid. 

Bass  sat  down  and  took  up  his  pen  : 

"  Two  People  were  as  indifferent  company  as  a  man 
and  his  Wife,  without  a  little  Inspiration  from  the 
Bottle,  and  then,  we  were  forced  to  go  as  far  as  the 


312  If  IS   GREAT  SELF. 

Kingdom  of  Ireland  to  help  out  our  Conversation. 
There,  it  seems,  "the  Colo,  had  an  Elder  Brother,  a 
Physician,  who  threatens  him  with  an  Estate  some 
time  or  other.  Tho'  possibly  it  might  come  to  him 
sooner,  if  the  Succession  depended  on  the  death  of  one 
of  his  Patients." 

The  pen  was  wiped  and  laid  by,  and  the  page  sanded. 
The  secretary  turned  his  chair  about  to  face  his  nominal 
master. 

"  I  grieve,  Colonel  Byrd,  that  you  take  a  plain  truth 
so  heavily  to  heart.  You  desired  a  certain  end,  and 
applied  to  me  for  means.  A  danger  was  imminent. 
You  appealed  to  me,  by  my  loyalty  to  you,  to  avert  it. 
I  laid  hold  of  the  only  instrument  available  in  the 
urgency  of  the  circumstances, — the  nearness  of  the 
danger.  You  made  but  one  stipulation.  In  scriptural 
meaning,  if  not  in  phrase,  you  said,  '  Touch  not  his 
life!'  I  sent  your  enemy  away  in  safety  and  in  com 
fort,  you  supplying  the  expenses  of  his  voyage.  If  he 
be  alive  when  the  schooner  arrives  at  the  West  Indies, 
word  will  be  sent  to  you  through  me,  and  the  same  from 
other  ports.  It  rests  with  you  whether  or  not  the  young 
gentleman's  well-wishers  in  this  neighborhood  are  left 
in  ignorance  of  his  condition  and  whereabouts,  after 
this  information  is  placed  in  your  hands — should  it 
come.  Should  inquiry  from  the  other  side  be  insti 
tuted,  Mr.  Harrison,  and  not  yourself,  will  be  the  one 
to  satisfy  it.  This  is  the  frank  statement  of  a  condition 
of  affairs  that  should  be  solace — not  sorrow.  Never 
theless,  I  am  prepared,  should  you  desire  it,  to  explain 
the  precise  circumstances  to  your  family,  and  the  com 
munity  in  general.  I  have  naught  to  fear  for  myself. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  313 

I  am — borrowing  again  from  your  Scriptures — but  clay 
in  the  hands  of  the  potter." 

There  was  no  response  from  the  bowed  figure  at  the 
desk. 

The  secretary  surveyed  it  in  mute  contempt.  That 
a  man  who  had  gained  that  for  which  he  had  sinned, 
should  have  twinges  of  conscience  as  to  the  means  by 
which  it  was  obtained,  was  beyond  his  comprehension. 
His  self-respect  hinged  upon  other  tilings  than  the  pre 
servation  of  a  pure  heart  and  clean  hands.  Failure  was 
crime;  success, — by  whatsoever  road, — virtue.  From 
this  stand-point  lie  made  his  next  address  : 

"  My  respectful  mention  of  Miss  Byrd  wrought  so 
unhappily  upon  you  but  just  now,  that  I  scarce  dare 
repeat  the  assurance  of  my  sympathy  in  your  natural 
uneasiness  at  her  present  state.  If  I  might,  I  would 
fain  couple  with  it  the  hope  that  her  sickness  is  but  a 
passing  attack — such  nervous  disorder  as  is  common 
with  her  sex  under  like  afflicting  conditions.  You  said, 
not  a  week  ago,  that  you  would  the  sooner  bury  her  than 
see  her  wed  to  him  who,  by  the  ordinance  of  Divine 
Providence,  and  by  reason  of  his  felonious  intent  to  rob 
you  of  your  fairest  treasure,  was  placed  in  peril  of  his 
life  yesternight.  I  would,  likewise,  venture  to  remind 
you  that  had  you  with  violence  seized  him  and  hurried 
him  into  the  vessel  wherein  he  met  his  fate,  there  might 
be  cause  for  repentance  which  does  not  now  exist." 

The  Colonel  raised  himself,  a  tolerable  assumption 
of  the  old  haughty  grace  clothing  features  and  form. 

"  Enough  of  this  for  this  once  !"  he  said,  waving  his 
hand.  "  What  is  done  is  done,  and  I  am  no  craven 
to  shirk  the  consequences  of  mine  own  deed.  I  have 
o  27 


314  SIS  GREAT  SELF. 

acted,  with  the  lights  vouchsafed  me,  for  the  best  good 
of  one  whose  happiness  is  as  a  sacred  trust  in  my  keep 
ing.  She  may  live  to  thank  me  for  that  which  the 
Searcher  of  hearts  knows  has  cost  me  dear  enough  in 
many  ways.  If  not,  I  must  look  for  justice  to  a  Future 
beyond  the  tomb  !" 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE  hurricane  that  cut  a  broad  swath  through  acres 
of  forest  as  the  scythe  through  grain,  swept  down  the 
river  in  mid-October.  Christmas-snows  had  melted 
from  off  the  winter  wheat,  and  the  budding  catalpas, 
horse-chestnuts  and  maples  were  shaking  off  brown 
water-proofs  to  show  spring  clothing,  when  Evelyn 
Byrd  was  lifted  into  the  "Westover  chariot,  and  driven 
carefully  over  the  soft  road  to  the  gate  of  her  home. 

The  same  day,  Caliban  alighted  from  a  spring-cart 
at  the  kitchen-door;  stared  stupidly  about  him,  and 
slouched  along  into  the  familiar  precincts  without 
acknowledging  the  storm  of  tearful  welcomes  poured 
upon  him. 

Isis  had  set  her  own  rocking-chair,  lined  with  feather 
cushions,  in  the  hottest  heart  of  the  chimney-corner, 
and,  upon  a  table  close  by,  were  smothered  chicken, 
waffles  and  honey,  and  coffee.  When  she  had  ensconced 
him  in  the  midst  of  the  puffiness,  set  a  stool  for  his  feet 
and  urged  him  to  eat,  she  threw  her  apron  over  her  head 
and  wailed  aloud  : 

"  He  ain'  no  mo'  de  chile  whar  went  'way  f'om  hyur, 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  315 

dat  tumble  Sunday  night,  dan  er  serup  is  like  er  coal- 
black  Et'op!"  she  bemoaned  him  in  a  fine  flight  of 
fancy  and  feeling.  "  What  (ley  been  do  tcr  you,  boy? 
Tell  Main'  Isy,  honey  !  Who  been  strip  you'  good 
cloes  off,  an'  den  shoot  you  dade,  an'  den  drownded 
you?" 

He  looked  at  her  with  lack-lustre  eyes,  his  jaw  hang 
ing  in  a  foolish  grin.  He  had  grown  fleshy,  yet  flabby  ; 
the  golden  brown  of  his  skin  was  a  dirty  yellow.  When 
left  to  himself,  he  crossed  his  hands  at  the  wrists,  where 
they  dangled  loosely,  as  if  jointless.  He  shambled  in 
his  walk,  and  stammered  in  his  silly  prattle.  Many 
words  and  people  were  altogether  forgotten.  Doctors 
from  near  and  from  far  agreed  in  pronouncing  him 
hopelessly  idiotic,  and  his  restoration  to  physical  health 
miraculous.  The  flattened  bullet  had  been  extracted 
from  under  his  scalp,  but  no  attempt  made  to  raise  the 
depressed  skull  from  the  brain.  Since  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  accident  must  be  death,  the  torture 
of  subjecting  him  to  an  operation  was  needless.  To 
the  surprise  of  the  local  practitioner,  the  bone  knitted 
healthfully,  and  the  scalp  closed  above  it  in  a  firm 
cicatrice.  His  appetite  was  abnormally  hearty ;  he 
could  walk  after  a  fashion,  and  regained  strength 
rapidly.  Memory  was  so  nearly  gone  that  he  recalled 
nothing  that  had  happened  at  or  near  the  time  of  his 
hurt,  and  every  effort  to  stimulate  his  recollection,  or 
suggest  incidents,  was  as  futile  as  Mam'  Isis's  exhorta 
tion. 

On  Christmas  evening,  Mrs.  Harrison,  with  tenderest 
tact,  told  Evelyn  how  and  where  her  last  note  to  her 
lover  had  been  concealed.  The  boy's  clothing,  found 


316  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

under  the  bushes  on  the  river- bank,  made  it  certain  that 
he  had  undressed  with  the  intention  of  swimming  to 
the  schooner;  yet  the  discovery  of  the  bolted  padlock 
showed  that  he,  or  some  one  else,  had  unloosed  the  skiff. 
Perhaps  it  had  drifted  away  before  he  could  get  in,  and 
he  had  swum  out  to  it.  But  why  the  ingenious  dispo 
sition  of  the  billet  in  leaves  and  bandanna,  when  he 
could  have  pulled  the  boat  back  to  shore  for  the  letter 
and  his  clothing? 

Mrs.  Harrison  related  all  to  her  guest — conjecture 
and  baffling  difficulties,  and  the  total  failure  to  piece 
together  a  plausible  theory  of  the  casualty.  Finally, 
she  produced  the  pacquet,  discolored  and  creased,  yet 
unopened. 

Until  that  day,  not  a  tear  had  softened  Evelyn's  eyes  ; 
her  lover's  name  had  never  passed  her  lips  since  the 
return  of  the  unsuccessful  search-party.  Except  that 
she  would  lie,  hour  after  hour,  slipping  the  ring  he  had 
"  wished  on,"  up  and  down  her  wasted  finger,  and  that 
she  always  slept  with  his  miniature  clasped  in  her  hand 
— memory  of  the  tragedy  might  have  been  as  extinct  in 
her  as  in  Caliban. 

She  hearkened  dumbly  to  the  tale, — truly  a  gruesome 
one  for  Christmas-tide; — held  out  her  hand  as  dumbly 
for  the  letter  ;  turned  it  over,  half-bewildered,  then 
broke  the  seal.  AVith  the  reading  of  the  first  line,  the 
spell  was  dissolved. 

"  O,  my  love  !  my  love  !  my  love  !" 

The  cry  reached  Mr.  Harrison  in  the  room  below. 
He  hurried  up  to  find  Evelyn  weeping  wildly  in  his 
wife's  arms, — ever  and  anon  ejaculating  that  the  poor, 
faithful  boy  had  lost  reason,  and,  perhaps,  life  for  her. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  317 

"Don't  you  see  how  it  was?"  she  reasoned,  when 
calm  enough  to  speak  connectedly.  "  Somebody  had 
stolen  the  skiff.  I  gave  him  the  key,  and  told  him  to 
take  the  bout  and  lose  no  time.  When  he  found  it 
gone,  he  recollected  that  I  had  charged  him  to  deliver 
the  letter  at,  or  near  the  schooner.  He  swam  to  the 
vessel, — I  am  sure  of  it, — and  the  thief  was  there,  too, 
with  the  skiff, — perhaps  on  board  of  the  schooner. 
Caliban  got  into  the  boat — was  discovered  by  that  other, 
and  in  the  quarrel  my  poor  lad  was  shot.  O,  I  hope" 
— lifting  her  almost  transparent  hands  to  heaven — "  that 
the  murderer  did  not  die  in  the  same  moment  with  my 
darling!  that  his  spirit  did  not  take  flight  in  such 
companionship !" 

After  that,  she  spoke — not  freely,  but  without  reserve 
— of  her  lover  as  beyond  doubt  dead.  The  Mocking- 
Bird  had  been  spoken  by  an  incoming  merchantman 
off  Cape  Henry.  A  stiff  breeze  was  blowing,  and  the 
two  skippers  could  make  out  little  that  was  hallooed 
through  their  trumpets  ;  but  there  was  no  doubt  as  to 
the  vessel,  and  that  she  was  outward-bound.  Mr. 
Harrison  brought  the  story  to  her,  he  having  seen  and 
catechised  the  captain  of  the  merchantman.  She 
thanked  him,  and  said  she  had  not  hoped  for  better 
news.  Then  a  gentle  melancholy  settled  upon  her  in 
place  of  the  apathetic  despair  that  had  excited  fears  for 
her  reason. 

On  New- Year's  Day,  she  expressed  a  willingness  to 
see  her  father,  whom,  up  to  then,  she  would  not  admit 
to  her  presence.  There  was  no  scene  of  formal  recon 
ciliation,  but  a  calm,  kindly  meeting  as  of  friends  who 
had  been  parted  fora  season.  His  visits  after  that  were 

27* 


318  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

daily,  never  prevented  by  weather,  or  delayed  by  other 
engagements.  There  was  a  deprecatory  shade  in  his 
demeanor,  an  anxiety  to  please,  and  an  effort  to  amuse 
the  invalid,  that  chance  observers  considered  exquisite, 
and  at  which  the  Harrisons  chafed  in  secret.  Evelyn 
accepted  it  all  without  comment,  or  apparent  emotion 
of  any  kind.  The  spring  of  active  feeling  seemed 
to  be  crushed. 

When  her  step-mother  could  not  speak  for  tears,  in 
receiving  her  upon  the  threshold  of  her  home,  she 
smiled  faintly. 

"The  journey  has  not  tired  me  as  you  feared  it 
would,"  she  said.  "  Belus  drove  with  great  care,  never 
touching  a  stone.  Am  I  to  go  to  my  room,  or  do  you 
think  it  better  for  me  to  lie  down  down-stairs  for  a 
while?" 

Between  her  father  and  Mr.  Fontaine,  she  was  sup 
ported  to  the  drawing-room,  but  it  was  Colin  Bass  who 
wheeled  the  sofa  toward  the  fire,  and  when  she  was  laid 
upon  it,  took  the  tray  containing  wine  and  biscuits  from 
Osiris,  and  on  one  knee  before  her,  offered  it. 

The  action  would  formerly  have  surprised,  perhaps 
offended  her.  As  it  was,  she  accepted  the  attention 
with  the  same  languid  smile,  tasted  the  wine,  set  the 
glass  back  with  a  murmur  of  acknowledgment,  and 
closed  her  eyes  in  utter  weariness.  Bass  passed  the 
tray  to  the  waiting  Osiris,  whose  inaudible  sniff  and 
toss  of  the  head  were  infinitely  eloquent.  Then,  in 
stead  of  withdrawing  from  the  room,  as  he  would  have 
done  a  half-year  ago,  the  secretary  stood  at  the  back  of 
the  sofa  as  one  whose  right  to  minister  to  the  invalid 
was  not  to  be  questioned. 


JUS   GREAT  SELF.  319 

Mr.  Fontaine  was  at  the  foot  of  the  lounge,  and 
glanced  inquiringly  from  the  trespasser  to  Colonel 
Byrd,  a  flush  of  indignant  amazement  mantling  his 
forehead.  The  Colonel  seemed  ignorant  that  aught 
unconventional  had  been  done,  and  Madam  Byrd  had 
followed  Osiris  to  the  door  for  a  whispered  consulta 
tion.  The  eyes  of  the  two  men  met  in  the  mirror  over 
the  mantel.  Fontaine's  were  full  of  haughty  sur 
prise  :  Bass  smiled,  quietly  confident  in  the  strength 
of  his  position.  Between  them,  as  they  stood,  was  re 
flected  the  recumbent  figure,  the  lily-pale  wraith  of  the 
beautiful  being  they  had  seen  framed  by  the  marble 
vine-leaves  and  fruit  five  months  before.  Both  thought 
of  that  other  scene, — one  with  a  gush  of  generous  sym 
pathy  that  softened  every  lineament,  the  other  with 
arrogant  hope  and  vulgar  triumph. 

This  was  the  first  overt  assumption  of  the  secretary's 
new  station  in  the  household.  He  never  lost  the 
vantage-ground  it  gave  him.  Men  had  commended 
Colonel  Byrd's  selection  of  a  factotum  so  clever,  yet 
who  knew  his  place  so  well ;  praised  his  modesty 
almost  as  much  as  his  ability  and  honesty.  Before 
the  summer  had  passed,  gossip  was  busy  with  rumors 
of  the  evident  mastery  of  the  plebeian  over  the  patri 
cian.  There  was  a  change  in  the  matchless  autocrat 
of  the  Westover  principality.  His  forehead  was  be 
ginning  to  show  wrinkles,  and  a  fine  net-work  of  care- 
lines  was  drawn  about  eyes,  always  brilliant,  often 
restless  now.  His  grand  air  was  a  part  of  his  person 
ality  as  were  the  rolling  periods  of  his  speech,  but  the 
rich  resonance  of  his  voice  was  fitful,  and  lie  was  sub 
ject  to  seasons  of  reverie  approximating  moodiness. 


320  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Bass,  by  degrees  alternately  insidious  and  audacious, 
possessed  himself  of  the  reins  slipping  from  the  mas 
ter's  fingers.  The  servants  hated  him  more  than  ever, 
but  they  had  learned  to  dread  him  as  well.  It  was 
significant  of  their  deep  devotion  to  their  young  mis 
tress  that  they  endured  without  murmur  the  sight 
of  their  master's  neglect  of  their  interests  because  of 
the  evident  absorption  of  his  every  thought  in  his 
daughter's  condition.  She  did  not  rally  in  strength  or 
in  heart  with  the  spring  weather  that  allowed  her  to 
spend  many  hours  of  each  day  in  the  summer-house  on 
the  outer  verge  of  the  lawn,  to  drive  to  Shirley,  and 
sail  down  the  river  to  Brandon  and  Wakeiield.  Her 
father  was  her  escort  everywhere;  his  loving  solicitude 
more  and  more  apparent  as  the  leading  motive  of  his 
daily  action.  She  turned  to  him,  insensibly  to  herself, 
more  fondly  and  continually  as  her  weakness  made  her 
dependent  upon  the  tender  offices  of  those  about  her, 
and  never  had  suffering  woman  a  stancher  support. 
All  the  resources  of  his  magnificent  intellect  were 
taxed  to  afford  her  entertainment;  his  versatile  fancy 
devised  diversion  and  light  occupations  for  her  stronger 
days,  comforts  for  the  hours  of  pain  and  weakness, 
which,  he  fondly  persuaded  himself,  were  fewer  as  the 
summer  advanced  to  gorgeous  prime. 

In  August,  he  fitted  up  a  schooner  we  would  non- 
call  a  yacht,  and  took  the  whole  family  upon  a  cruise 
as  far  north  as  Boston,  spending  some  weeks  in  Massa 
chusetts,  and  stopping  at  most  of  the  chief  towns  in  the 
New  England  Colonies.  Voyaging  southward,  they 
visited  the  Bermudas,  and  sailed  leisurely  in  summer 
seas  until  earlv  October. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  321 

Evelyn  had  forgiven,  long  ago,  and  striven  to  forget 
that,  but  for  her  father's  refusal  to  sanction  her  be 
trothal,  her  lover  would  not  have  been  abroad  on  that 
fatal  night.  She  was  very  grateful  that  none  interfered 
with  her  mourning  for  the  beautiful  young  life  quenched 
in  the  cruel  river.  She  almost  believed  that,  were  the 
last  year  to  be  lived  over  again,  her  father  would  have 
learned  to  like  and  respect  one  all-worthy  of  esteem. 
There  was  balm  in  the  thought  that  wrought  more 
potently  than  sea-breezes  and  invigorating  changes  of 
scene  to  coax  back  elasticity  to  her  frame,  color  to  her 
cheek,  and  hopeful  light  to  her  eyes. 

Still  it  was  a  faded  image  of  herself  that  trod  the 
gangway  laid  from  the  yacht  to  the  Westover  pier,  on 
the  afternoon  of  a  golden  autumnal  day.  Mr.  Fon 
taine's  heart  sank  with  dismay  he  would  not  name  as 
he  grasped  the  hand  he  felt  was  smaller  and  thinner 
than  when  it  last  lay  in  his. 

"  I  am  better  !  much  better  !"  she  said,  accepting  his 
arm  for  the  climb  up  the  winding  steps,  seeming  not  to 
see  that  Bass  pressed  to  her  other  side  with  offered 
assistance.  "And  I  have  a  world  of  things  to  tell  you 
when  the  time  comes.  That  will  not  be  until  I  have 
heard  everything  that  has  happened  at  home  while  we 
were  gone.  How  lovely  the  dear  old  place  is !  Seven 
weeks  is  a  long  time  to  be  away  from  it.  But  we  have 
seen  and  done  so  much  that  the  days  flew  by." 

Fontaine  was  not  deceived  by  her  forced  vivacity, 
but  Bass,  to  whom  it  sounded  like  the  gladsome  over 
flow  of  a  heart  at  peace  with  itself  and  full  of  delight 
in  the  reunion,  could  have  torn  his  rival  limb  from 
limb  as  he  saw  him  check  her  upon  the  first  lauding, 


322  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

and  compel  her  to  sit  down  upon  the  wall  to  rest.  To 
the  apprehension  of  the  slighted  lover,  it  was  a  subter 
fuge  to  gain  a  ttte-a-tete  interview,  Madam  Byrd  and 
the  children,  with  their  retinue  of  servants,  having 
hastened  up  the  hill. 

The  manager  let  the  Master  of  Westover  speak  to 
him  twice  before  he  appeared  to  hear  him.  The  two 
men  were  upon  the  wharf  with  no  one  else  within  ear 
shot. 

"  I  asked  you  if  there  were  news  of  The  MocJdng- 
Birdf  said  Colonel  Byrd,  more  peremptorily  than 
Bass  was  in  the  habit  of  hearing  himself  addressed  of 
late. 

He  answered  senteutiously  : 

"  None !" 

"  None  since  she  was  spoken  off  Cape  Henrv,  more 
than  eleven  months  ago!  What  make  you  of  that?" 

11  Nothing — because  nothing  can  be  made  of  nothing. 
It  is  a  matter  of  little  moment  to  either  of  us,  so  far 
as  I  can  see." 

The  bronzed  visage  of  the  Master  gloomed  while 
Bass  feigned  to  be  occupied  in  pulling  about  the  boxes 
the  crew  were  brino-ing;  ashore,  but  he  waited  until  the 

o         O  ' 

factotum  deigned  to  approach  him  again  with  a  look 
that  was  more  incisively  interrogative  than  became 
their  relative  positions.  The  look  he  received  in  re 
turn  staggered  him.  The  king  was  upon  his  throne 
again ;  the  man  was  master  of  himself,  and  resolved 
upon  mastering  others.  His  voice  rang  out  in  the 
remembered  accents  of  command. 

"  Whatever  may  be  your  estimate  of  the  importance 
of  the  matter  you  wot  of,  I  rank  it  as  so  nearly  su- 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  323 

preme  that  I  shall  set  all  agencies  on  foot,  forthwith, 
to  discover  the  fate  of  the  vessel,  and  to  recall  her 
passenger — if  there  were  one.  After  conference  with 
Mrs.  Byrd,  who  is  thoroughly  advised  through  Mr. 
Harrison  and  his  family  of  the  hour  at  which  the 
boat  left  Berkeley  on  that  Sunday  night,  the  probable 
time  consumed  in  the  row  to  the  schooner,  and  in  dis 
posing  the  mails  in  her  hold — I  judge  that  the  unfor 
tunate  gentleman  may  have  been  on  board  when  the 
gale  broke  over  her.  Joining  this  to  the  fact  that  his 
remains  were  never  found  while  those  of  the  negro 
were,  I  deduce  the  likelihood  that  when  The  Mocldng- 
Bird  was  driven  out  to  sea,  she  carried  him  with  her. 
The  first  step  is  to  discover,  through  English  and 
American  ship-masters,  what  has  become  of  the 
schooner.  To  these  you  will  address  letters  to-night 
under  my  hand  and  seal,  instructing  them  to  spare  no 
expense  in  obtaining  the  needed  information." 

The  man  was  grand  even  in  error.  In  the  enuncia 
tion  of  the  royal  pleasure,  he  ignored  the  possibility 
that  his  amanuensis  might  presume  to  question  his 
will.  Serene  and  imperative  he  spoke,  and  looked  to 
have  it  done. 

"  And  now" — in  a  more  colloquial  tone — "  what  of 
plantation-affairs  ?" 

"  This,  first  of  all,  sir."  In  emulating  his  chief's  tone, 
he  achieved  doggedness.  "  You  will  be  so  kind  as  to 
suit  yourself  with  another  manager  at  your  convenience. 
I  shall  not  retain  the  post  more  than  a  month  longer." 

"  Very  well,  Bass.  The  yield  of  corn  was  good  this 
year,  or  promised  to  be,  when  we  left  home.  And  the 
tobacco  ?" 


324  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

"  My  books  are  ready  for  your  inspection,  sir.  At 
the  risk  of  angering  you,  Colonel  Byrd.  may  I  ask  if 
you  are  prepared  to  accept  the  consequences  of  this 
remarkable  reversal  of  sentiment  and  intention.  They 
may  be  grave." 

"  They  must  be  grave.  I  am  prepared  to  accept 
them." 

They  were  ascending  the  zigzag  causeway  ;  a  turning 
made  visible  Evelyn  and  Mr.  Fontaine,  met  at  the  top 
of  the  Might  by  an  uncouth  figure  that  grovelled,  dog- 
like,  upon  the  ground  at  his  young  mistress's  feet.  Buss 
looked  at  his  companion  with  a  disagreeable  smile. 

"They  wilt  be  serious.  It  might  be  well  to  weigh 
them  well  before  adopting  measures  that  cannot  be 
recalled." 

"  I  have  had  time  and  opportunity  for  mature  de 
liberation.  We  will  not  debate  the  business  further. 
It  is  mine — and  mine  alone  !" 

Evelyn's  hand  closed  convulsively  upon  her  escort's 
arm  as  Caliban  shambled  toward  them,  his  tongue  loll 
ing  like  a  dog's  in  the  breathlessness  of  his  haste,  his 
face  broad  with  ecstasy — a  sickening  spectacle.  In 
another  second  she  stooped  to  pat  his  head,  while  he 
kissed  her  feet  with  disjointed  exclamations  of  rapture. 

"  My  poor  fellow  !  are  you  so  happy  to  see  me  again  ! 
Me  who  caused  you  such  sorrow  !" 

Her  eyes  swam  with  tears,  but  she  forced  a  smile. 
The  home-coming  was  a  crucial  test  of  strength  and 
courage,  and  this  meeting  not  the  least  trying  stage. 
Her  father's  daughter  would  not  blench. 

"  I  must  tell  you,"  she  continued  to  Fontaine,  walk 
ing  slowly  up  the  lawn,  Caliban  gambolling  beside  her, 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  325 

"of  something  Papa  has  promised  inc.  We  met  an 
eminent  English  surgeon  in  Boston,  and  became  well 
acquainted  with  him.  I  told  him  of  this  poor  lad's 
misfortune,,  and  since  his  intention  is  to  see  Virginia 
before  his  return,  Papa  invited  him  to  visit  us.  While 
here,  he  is  to  examine  Caliban,  and  perhaps  perform  an 
operation — trepanning,  it  is  called.  He  says  that  such 
things  have  been — and  wonderful  cures  effected. 

"  I  must  tell  you,  moreover," — hurrying  to  say  it 
before  they  reached  the  house, — "  what  he — Papa — has 
been  to  me  while  we  were  away.  No  woman — not  mine 
own  sweet  mother  whom  I  shall  ever  remember  as  an 
angel  of  love  and  mercy — could  have  been  more  tender, 
and  Mamma  was  all  goodness.  When  I  remember 
these  things,  I  know  it  would  be  ungrateful  not  to  be 
glad  to  be  at  home  again,  and  willing  to  take  up  what 
of  life  is  left  to  me.  Help  me,  dear  friend  !" 

He  pressed  her  hand  in  releasing  it  from  his  arm,  at 
the  door. 

"  Depend  upon  me  to  do  my  utmost !" 

The  latent  heroism  in  the  woman  who  had  ceased  to 
be  a  girl,  was  developing  nobly  in  the  furnace  that  tried 
her.  The  inner  light  shone  white  and  clear, — and  none, 
not  even  the  parent  who  had  grown  to  be  the  dearest 
of  earthly  things  to  her,  or  he  who  loved  her  so  entirely 
that  self  had  no  part  or  lot  in  his  hopes  for  her,  sus 
pected  the  fragility  of  the  vase  that  held  the  lamp. 

It  was  at  Colonel  Byrd's  express  and  personal  invi 
tation  that  Martha  Jaqueline  and  Miss  Lotsie  spent  a 
week  at  Westover  soon  after  the  return  of  the  family 
to  the  homestead.  The  visit  included  the  anniversary 
of  the  day  that  had  widowed  the  bride  who  was  never 

28 


326  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

to  be  a  \vife.  Xo  verbal  notice  was  taken  of  the  inci 
dent  in  the  household,  but  Colonel  Byrd  rode  away 
upon  Pluto  soon  after  breakfast,  and  was  not  seen  again 
until  nightfall,  and  Martha  and  Mrs.  Harrison  sat  for 
a  silent,  sacred  hour  in  the  church-porch  while  Evelyn 
prayed  within,  kneeling  in  the  chancel,  living  over  each 
minute  and  hearkening  in  spirit  to  every  love-word  of 
that  farewell  interview  until  memory  became  a  present 
and  blessed  reality. 

The  face  she  brought  forth  to  the  anxious  waiters  was 
transfigured  by  peaceful  radiance;  she  moved  with  the 
grace  of  a  wind-swayed  flower;  the  beauty  of  her  early 
youth  was  renewed  and  sublimed.  Upon  the  hand 
clasped  over  her  prayer-book  gleamed  the  "  wish-ring" 
she  would  wear  to  her  grave. 

The  yellow  sunshine  lay  level  across  the  burial- 
mounds  and  burned  like  watch-fires  in  the  windows; 
the  river  was  crystal  and  flame;  the  painted  leaves  of 
the  maples  drifted  as  soundlessly  as  the  sunrays ;  the 
tinkle  of  herd-bells  was  melodious  in  the  distance.  The 
three  women  lingered  under  the  trees,  the  fallen  leaves 
rustling  and  whispering  after  them  as  they  walked. 

"  I  am  here  every  day/'  said  Evelyn  at  the  upper 
beud  of  the  path.  "  For  awhile,  pain  went  before  the 
comfort  I  was  sure  to  find  at  the  last.  Latterly,  it  has 
been  all  rest  and  peace.  When  I  have  gone  quite  away, 
I  shall  pray  that  I  may  be  let  to  come  back  on  such  an 
evening  as  this,  and  meet  one,  or  both  of  you,  just  here, 
where  we  three  now  stand.  Charles  and  I  parted  on 
this  spot.  You  will  not  forget?" 

There  Mras  no  outcry  against  what  must  precede  the 
tryst.  The  simple  earnestness  of  the  pledge  was  met 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  327 

by  like  simplicity  of  spirit.  As  they  passed  through 
the  west  gate  and  along  the  rose-lined  alleys,  Evelyn 
talked  hopefully  of  the  operation  to  be  performed  upon 
her  protege  by  the  London  surgeon,  now  at  Brandon 
and  expected  at  Westover  on  the  morrow. 

"  It  is  not  wise  to  delay  the  attempt  to  save  the  boy 
from  what  is  worse  than  death,"  she  said.  "  While 
we  were  absent  he  was  nearly  uncontrollable  at  seasons. 
Once  he  ran  away  and  was  gone  three  days.  His 
Indian  grandmother  brought  him  back.  He  had  found 
his  way  to  her  house  alone.  Occasionally  he  fell  into 
strange  rages.  In  one  of  these  he  threw  a  hammer  at 
Mr.  Bass.  A  fire  was  kindled  under  Mr.  Bass's  bed 
one  night,  and  my  poor,  witless  Caliban  was  suspected 
of  the  act.  Papa  is  loath  to  put  him  under  restraint. 
What  would  I  not  give  to  have  back  my  merry,  game 
some  imp  !  We  were  great  friends — Caliban  and  I." 

They  were  under  the  study-window,  and  the  secretary 
was  within,  surrounded  by  the  plantation-books.  His 
short,  thick  fingers  opened  and  shut  spasmodically,  as 
he  listened,  and  a  muscle  in  the  right  side  of  his  face 
contracted  suddenly,  drawing  down'  one  corner  of  the 
eye  and  mouth. 

For  a  wonder  he  was  idle.  The  vellum  MSS.  were 
completed,  and  stored  in  a  library-closet.  There  were 
the  weekly  accounts  to  be  gone  over,  and  letters  to  write, 
but  he  was  disinclined  to  touch  them.  For  a  week  he 
had  not  been  well.  Doughty  as  was  his  tone  in  offer 
ing  his  resignation,  the  blow  of  his  confederate's  defec 
tion  had  fallen  heavily.  For  six  months  he  had  lorded 
it  as  virtual  ruler  of  the  plantation,  saying  in  his  pros 
perity,  "I  shall  never  be  moved!"  security  founded 


328  HIS   GREAT   SELF. 

upon  the  belief  that  his  clutch  upon  the  Master  was  as 
inexorable  as  death.  In  his  presumption,  his  ambition 
meditated  further  humiliation  for  his  dupe  and  triumphs 
for  himself, — a  final  coup  that  was  to  make  the  daugh 
ter's  hand  the  price  of  his  continued  discretion.  In  his 
opinion,  the  submission  of  the  chastened  spirit  to  the 
inevitable,  and  the  affectionate  duty  rendered  her  parent, 
were  abundant  proof  of  the  supremacy  of  the  latter, 
and  his  ability  to  coerce  her  into  whatsoever  course  he 
might  decree.  Bass  had  heard  twice  from  the  skipper 
of  The  Mocking-Bird.  In  curt,  rough  fashion  he  had 
been  told  that  "  him  you  wot  of  keeps  well,  but  aint  so 
mighty  easy  in  his  mind."  And  again,  "  Somebody 
makes  friens  with  the  men,  moren  I  could  like.  I'm 
glad  time's  'most  up." 

Bass  had  intended  to  use  this  last  intimation  as  a 
lever  in  the  execution  of  his  daring  scheme.  Gauging 
his  employer  by  his  own  standard,  he  reckoned  con 
fidently  upon  the  effect  that  would  be  produced  upon 
Colonel  Byrd  by  the  suggested  prospect  of  Lord  Peter 
borough's  escape  and  return,  and  the  accompanying 
threat  upon  his — Bass's — part,  that,  in  such  an  event, 
it  might  be  obligatory  upon  him  to  save  himself  by 
giving  up  the  real  criminal.  The  obvious  expediency 
of  guarding  against  the  worst  consequences  of  the 
Englishman's  reappearance  by  giving  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  an  honest  man  whose  influence  in  her  father's 
behalf  would  thus  be  secured,  would  finally  be  brought 
forward  to  calm  the  fears  of  the  principal  party  in  the 
outrage  perpetrated  upon  a  peer  of  England.  Safety 
was  to  be  found  alone  in  unity  of  sentiment  and 
interests. 


UIS   GREAT  SELF.  329 

That  the  well-digested  plan  could  be  foiled  by  a 
single  act  of  moral  courage  would  have  seemed  pre 
posterous,  yet  through  this  short,  straight  avenue  had 
ruin  entered.  The  lion  had  rent  the  net  with  one 
stroke  of  his  paw.  Intimidation  and  cajolery  would 
be  alike  ineffectual  in  dealing  with  one  who  faced  the 
consequences  of  an  evil  deed  as  brave  men  face  an 
honorable  death. 

Defeat  and  discomfiture  are  not  synonyms  to  stead 
fast  souls,  and  such  Bass  held  his  to  be.  He  could  still 
have  wrestled  with  destiny  and  escaped  a  stunning  fall 
had  not  physical  force  failed  him.  He,  who  had  boasted 
himself  to  be  made  up  without  nerves,  and  his  phlegm 
to  be  invulnerable ;  to  whom  sleep  came  at  call,  yet 
could  be  dispensed  with  when  need  arose  for  vigil  con 
tinued  for  nights  together, — was  a  prey  to  nocturnal 
horrors,  sleeplessness  that  was  anguish,  childish  dreads 
of  formless  ills.  His  appetite  was  capricious  ;  he  started 
like  a  woman,  if  a  door  were  slammed,  or  one  spoke 
abruptly  at  his  ear,  and  involuntary  facial  twitchings 
threatened  to  make  his  pitiable  state  known  to  others. 
His  habits  had  always  been  temperate.  He  smoked 
with  others  because  it  was  the  custom  of  gentlemen, 
and  the  act  symbolized  his  equality  with  such,  and 
drank  for  no  better,  and  no  worse  reason.  In  his 
solitary  occupation  of  the  great  house,  he  had  kept 
a  demijohn  of  the  finest  Westover  brandy  in  a  closet 
opening  out  of  the  study,  and  compounded  a  mint- 
julep  or  a  glass  of  brandy-and-water  for  his  private 
delectation  when  work  pressed  him  hard.  Lately,  the 
potation  cleared  a  brain  that  never  used  to  be  foggv, 
and  braced  up  spirits  that  fluctuated  irrationally. 

28* 


330  IIIS   GREAT  SELF. 

This  afternoon,  as  I  have  said,  he  was  not  working. 
Dull  pain  behind  the  eyes,  slight  nausea,  and  what  felt 
like  a  sinking  of  the  material  heart,  robbed  him  of  the 
disposition  to  be  industrious.  He  had  sat  for  nearly 
an  hour  in  his  chair,  elbow  on  table  and  head  on  hand, 
thinking  of  nothing  in  particular,  yet  oppressed  with  a 
sense  of  general  misery  of  body  and  soul.  Evelyn's 
voice  aroused  him  to  steal  on  tiptoe  to  the  window  and 
peer  out.  The  trio  of  friends  had  paused  where,  by 
leaning  forward,  he  could  touch  Evelyn's  head.  In 
the  flush  of  her  glorious  early  womanhood  she  was 
never  lovelier  than  now  when  bloom  and  contour  were 
refined  by  time  and  suffering.  He  contemplated  with 
devouring  eyes  the  blue  tracery  of  the  veins  on  temples 
and  hands,  the  shell-shaped  ears,  dainty,  fine,  and 
clear;  the  arch  of  the  dark  hair  at  the  back  of  the 
neck,  the  classic  profile;  the  scarlet  of  lips  that  was 
vivid  by  contrast  with  the  waxen  skin.  His  passion 
was  as  fierce  as  it  was  useless.  He  could  have  beaten 
his  eyes  blind  because  he  could  not  withdraw  them 
from  her;  he  stretched  out  his  arms  to  empty  air  and 
drew  them  iu  closely  upon  his  breast  as  one  might 
crush  a  human  form  against  his  heart. 

And,  in  accents  that  wrould  have  wooed  him  back  to 
earth  were  his  foot  over  the  threshold  of  heaven,  she 
lamented  the  lost  wits  of  the  chattering  ape  who  got 
only  a  modicum  of  his  deserts  in  the  bullet  that  cracked 
his  skull ! 

He  got  out  the  demijohn  when  the  ladies  moved  away, 
and  mixed  a  potent  draught.  It  made  up  to  other  men 
for  thwarted  ambition  and  unrequited  passion,  and,  after 
all,  he  and  other  men  were  of  one  common  clay. 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  331 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

THE  hush  of  intense  excitement  pervaded  house, 
kitchen,  and  quarters  upon  the  day  in  which  the  great 
London  surgeon  was — to  quote  Isis — "  ter  breck  inter 
dat  po'  boy's  hade  an'  let  in  his  senses." 

By  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  all  knew  what  was  in 
progress,  and  hundreds  of  hearts  beat  in  one  suspense- 
ful  throb  while  the  hours  lagged  on.  At  noon,  Osiris, 
the  only  servant  who  had  been  retained  in  the  closed 
chamber,  next  to  Miss  Evelyn's  own,  appeared  in  the 
kitchen.  His  face  was  of  a  curious  dun-color,  his  lips 
were  a  faded  purple, — otherwise,  his  deportment  was, 
if  possible,  more  consequential  than  in  ordinary.  Sink 
ing  into  a  seat,  he  waved  back  the  inquisitive  crowd, 
and  said,  sepulchrally — "Cider!" 

Isis's  own  hands  brought  it  in  a  lordly  beaker.  He 
swallowed  it  to  the  last  drop  and  wiped  his  mouth  : 

"  In  all  my  travels,  the  'xperience  of  this  day  is  the 
most  wonderful  lest  'xperience  I've  ever  'xperienced. 
Thank  GOD  it  is  over  an'  done  with  !  I  could  not 
have  borne  myself  up  with  credit  ten  minutes  longer. 
An'  the  subjec'  is  alive  an'  probable  to  do  well. 
Stop !"  as  a  hum  of  pious  rejoicing  threatened  to  swell 
into  the  wordless  surge  of  thanksgiving  peculiar  to 
the  negro  fanatic.  "  I  wish  it  understood — distinct — 
that  the  battle  is  not  one — but,  as  I  might  say,  two!" 
Pleased  with  the  daring  epigram,  he  elaborated  it. 
"  Yes,  two  ! — that  is,  two  chances.  This  ban',  life," — 


332  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

sprawling  a  flat  palm,  dirty-pink  in  hue, — "this  han', 
death!" — jerking  out  the  left.  "Moreover,  when  a 
nisher"  (issue)  "  is  not  certain,  it  is  more  than  ap' 
to  be  uncertain,  even  when  a  famous  Lunnon  chirog- 
rapher  weaves  what  may  be  called  the  axe  of  fate." 

The  room  was  full  by  now,  the  outermost  and  latest 
comers  crowding  to  get  sight  of  the  oracle.  A  buzz 
ran  swift  from  the  circumference  to  the  oratorical  hub. 
He  got  himself  to  his  feet  with  alacrity  incompatible 
with  the  exhaustion  under  which  he  had  collapsed,  a 
minute  ago,  and  tugged  at  his  pepper-and-salt  forelock 
to  his  young  mistress  just  entering  the  kitchen.  She 
stopped  near  the  door,  looking  around  upon  the  dusky 
sea  of  faces,  her  own  colorless,  her  eyes  like  stars  for 
prayerful  gladness. 

"I  came,  forthwith,  to  tell  you  what  I  knew  you 
would  be  most  thankful  to  hear,"  she  said.  "  We  may 
hope  that  Caliban  will  soon  be  well  again.  I  ask  in 
my  own  name  that  you  keep  the  house  and  grounds 
very  quiet  for  a  day  or  two,  until  the  danger  of  fever 
has  passed.  You  shall  be  told,  every  few  hours,  how 
he  is  getting  on.  I  ask  you,  too,  to  join  your  prayers 
with  mine  that  our  dear  Heavenly  Father  will  carry 
on  the  good  work  begun  in  the  poor  lad." 

Is  is  pressed  nearer : 

"  Please,  my  Miss  Evelyn,  ma'am, — is  he  got  all  his 
sense  back?  He  done  been  los'  a  heap!" 

Evelyn  smiled. 

"  That  will  not  be  known  until  he  awakens.  They 
had  to  give  him  large  quantities  of  opium  to  dull  the 
pain  of  the  operation,  and  he  is  sleeping  from  the  effects 
of  it." 


HIS   GEE  AT  SELF.  333 

The  head-cook  was  still  revolving  with  brain  and 
tongue  the  possibilities  formulated  by  her  query,  when 
a  shadow  fell  athwart  the  bowl  in  which  she  was  shred 
ding  vegetables  for  soup,  sitting  in  the  noon-sun  on  the 
kitchen  steps. 

Bass  was  sauntering  by,  tracing  listless  patterns  in 
the  fine  gravel  with  his  stick,  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
ground. 

"  Mr.  Bass  !  suh  !"  challenged  Isis. 

Usually  she  would  have  scorned  to  apply  to  him  for 
information  upon  any  subject,  but  her  heart  was  full 
and  soft. 

He  stopped  and  eyed  her  sullenly. 

"  Ef  so  be  dat  po'  boy  up  yarnder" — nodding  her 
turban  sideways  at  the  house — "gits  back  his  senses 
whar  was  spilt  out  in  de  riber  dat  night,  ken  he  tell, 
right,  straight,  smack,  stnoove  off,  who  been  hu't  him, 
an'  how  it  all  happen'  ?" 

Bass's  eyes  were  bloodshot  and  stupid  while  he 
seemed  to  ponder  the  query.  His  face  twitched  so 
fast  and  violently  that  he  put  up  his  hand  to  hide  the 
tremor  or  to  keep  it  still. 

"  I — don't — know  !"  he  said,  at  last. 

His  tongue  was  clumsy ;  his  lips  hardly  moved. 
He  made  as  though  he  would  say  more,  but  moved  on, 
leaving  it  unspoken. 

Jsis  shook  her  head  many  times  and  portentously. 

"  Dat  'ar  gittin'  silly,  or  he  drinkin'  mighty  hard  !" 
she  said  to  her  corps  of  helpers.  "  Thank  de  Lord  't 
don'  make  much  diff'ence  to  we-all,  now  Marster  done 
got  on  de  box  agin  an'  tuk  up  de  lines,  an'  bless  'n' 
praise  His  holy  Name  fur  dese  'n'  all  udder  marcies !" 


334  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Bass  sauntered  on,  trailing  his  cane  behind  him,  to 
the  church-yard  and  his  accustomed  seat  upon  the  tomb 
of  William  Byrd  the  First.  It  was  not  easy  to  rally 
and  mass  his  mental  forces  nowadays,  but  Isis's  ques 
tion  had  shocked  them  into  temporary  activity.  The 
horror  of  the  idea  broached  by  the  illiterate  woman 
grew  apace  upon  him.  He  tried  to  recollect  an  old 
^etory  he  had  heard  of  the  return  of  memory  to  a  man 
who  lay  for  six  weeks,  senseless,  after  a  fall  that  pro 
duced  concussion  of  the  brain.  He  had  caught  a  sen 
tence  spoken  by  the  surgeon  last  night  to  Evelyn,  as 
she  parted  from  him  near  the  study-door. 

"  I  will  not  flatter  you  with  false  hopes,  my  dear 
Miss  Byrd,  but  surgery  has  before  now  given  speech  to 
the  dumb,  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  wisdom  to  the  fool." 

Icy,  viscid  drops  oozed  out  upon  the  thinker's  fore 
head  ;  a  horrible  sickness  possessed  every  square  inch 
of  his  body.  The  persuasion  that  paralyzes  the  boldest 
energies, — let  it  be  superstition  or  deduction  from  unde 
niable  circumstance, — that  the  wheel  of  fate  has  begun 
to  turn  backward  fur  him,  changed  his  heart  to  water. 
Tilings  had  gone  wrong  until  neither  he,  nor  the  Provi 
dence  that  had  so  lately  seemed  all  on  his  side,  could 
stein  the  current.  A  month  ago  he  would  have  defied 
a  thousand  negroes,  all  telling  the  same  tale,  word  for 
word,  to  win  Colonel  Byrd's  credence  in  opposition  to 
his  unsupported  statement.  In  that  unfortunate  cruise, 
when  father  and  daughter  were  thrown  into  closest 
intimacy,  and  long  voyaging  over  trackless  seas  and 
between  the  stars  and  the  deep  had  brought  season 
for  honest  introspection  and  just  weight  of  men  and 
measures,  his  work  of  years  had  been  undone.  His 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  335 

whilom  dupe  had  arisen  in  pristine  strength,  clothed 
with  native  integrity  and  in  his  right  mind — the  more 
resolute  for  good  for  shame  that  he  had  listened  for  a 
while  to  evil  counsel. 

Caliban  was  Evelyn's  protege.  She  would  lend  eager 
heed  to  every  incoherent  phrase  that  embalmed  her 
lover's  name.  Her  woman's  wit  would  knit  stitch  to 
stitch,  and  the  clue  once  given  to  his  own  presence 
upon  the  schooner  when  Francis  was  trapped,  like  a 
partridge,  in  the  cabin,  would  be  followed,  until 

He  could  not  frame  it,  even  in  thought.  Shaking, 
as  in  palsy,  he  struck  a  spark  into  his  pipe,  and  smoked 
by  fits  and  starts;  his  limbs  aching,  yet  numb.  He 
might  go  away — to  England,  for  instance.  He  had  a 
tidy  sum  in  foreign  securities  of  which  his  employer 
did  not  dream.  Or — there  was  the  river — or  the  holster 
hanging  in  his  room  with  a  pair  of  pistols  he  always 
kept  clean  and  loaded.  An  odor  of  burning  arose  to 
his  nostrils,  and  he  looked  down  to  see  a  thread  of  red 
flame  creeping  along  the  earth.  A  spark  had  fallen 
from  his  tinder,  or  a  fiery  ash  from  his  pipe,  upon  the 
carpet  of  dead  leaves.  Being  a  thread,  although  flame, 
it  was  extinguished  by  one  stamp  of  his  foot.  Action 
and  occasion  awoke  a  thought  that  warmed  his  languid 
veins,  infused  courage  into  his  heart.  A  touch  would 
strike  out.  the  life  wavering  in  the  breath  of  fate,  in  the 

O  / 

stilled  chamber  over  there.  If  the  touch  were  dealt 
before  reason  awoke  in  the  drugged  brain,  all  was 
safe. 

From  that  moment  of  hopeful  inspiration,  opposing 
forces  kept  watch, — the  one  without,  the  other  within 
the  darkened  chamber  wherein  the  injured  boy  was 


336  -H/S   GREAT  SELF. 

swimming  for  his  life.  If  the  watchers  beside  his 
pillow  counted  every  respiration  and  hung  above  the 
immobile  visage  with  hope  that  strengthened  every 
hour,  the  prowler  skulking  up  the  stairs,  lying  in  wait 
in  dark  corners  of  the  upper  corridor,  listening  with 
ear  laid  to  the  panel  for  sound  or  silence  that  might 
indicate  whether  the  helpless  boy  were  guarded  or  alone, 
was  on  the  fiercer  alert. 

"  That  secretary  of  yours  is  in  danger  of  delirium 
tremens  or  something  worse,"  remarked  the  surgeon  to 
Colonel  Byrd,  as  they  smoked  together  in  the  drawing- 
room  the  third  night  after  the  operation. 

"  O,  I  think  you  mistake  there.  He  is  a  temperate 
fellow — steady  as  a  clock,  albeit  somewhat  upset  just 
now  by  the  prospect  of  leaving  my  service.  The  ques 
tion  of  drunkenness  being  disposed  of, — in  my  mind, 
at  least, — what  is  the  worse  peril  ?" 

"  Paralysis — or  some  cognate  seizure.  His  hand  is 
tremulous,  uncontrollable  muscles  draw  his  face  awry, 
he  drags  the  right  leg  slightly  in  walking.  If  he  do 
not  look  out,  he  will  not,  as  the  vulgar  say,  make  old 
bones." 

While  they  talked,  the  doomed  man  was  feeling  his 
way  through  the  familiar  gloom  of  the  upper  hall.  He 
had  peeped  into  the  still-room  window,  and  seen  Madam 
Byrd.  with  two  colored  women,  busy  scraping  opium 
from  poppy-pods  that  had  been  scarified  in  their  green 
prime  that  it  might  exude.  The  milky  sap  turned  dark 
in  stiffening,  and  when  hard  was  taken  off  and  treasured 
as  a  valuable  addition  to  the  domestic  pharmacopoeia. 
Madam  had  an  acre  of  poppies  sowed  yearly,  and  her 
self  visited  them  in  the  season,  daily,  armed  with  a 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  337 

needle  for  scoring  the  seed-vessels,  and  shears  for  clip 
ping  the  ripe  ones.  Removal  of  the  precious  deposit 
was  a  nice  process,  and  she  deputed  the  superintendence 
of  it  to  no  one.  The  pile  upon  the  table  insured  her 
occupation  for  an  hour  to  come. 

Colonel  Byrd,  the  surgeon,  and  Mr.  Fontaine  were 
in  the  library,  and  Miss  Byrd's  maid  had  come  down 
stairs  a  half-hour  ago,  announcing  to  Osiris  in  the  hall 
that  "  Mis'  Evelyn  had  a  mighty  bad  headache,  an'  was 
goin'  ter  bade  right  off." 

The  patient  was  undoubtedly  left  in  the  care  of  a 
negro  woman  renowned  for  her  skill  in  nursing.  It 
would  be  an  easy  matter  to  offer  to  take  her  place  for  a 
couple  of  hours.  A  thumb  and  finger  upon  the  thorax, 
a  displacement  of  the  bandages,  would  suffice  after 
that, — and  nobody  would  tell  tales.  He  had  but  to 
aver  that  the  patient  was  as  he  had  found  him.  Negro 
evidence  went  for  nothing.  Such  a  conjunction  of  cir 
cumstances  might  not  occur  again.  It  came  none  too 
soon.  The  evening  bulletin  from  the  sick-room  re 
ported  the  continued  absence  of  febrile  symptoms,  also 
that  the  patient  had  spoken  rationally — only  to  ask  for 
a  drink,  but  in  a  natural  tone.  Then,  he  had  dropped 
off  into  what  the  surgeon  said  was  healthful  sleep,  not 
stupor.  The  morrow,  it  was  believed,  would  see  yet 
more  decided  improvement. 

The  door  of  the  hospital-chamber  was  ajar  a  few 
inches,  and  by  the  glimmer  of  the  night-taper  Bass 
beheld,  with  a  shock  that  left  him  weak  and  quivering, 
Evelyn  Byrd  seated  by  the  lad's  pillow.  Perfectly 
motionless,  her  head  laid  against  the  back  of  her  chair, 
she  looked,  with  her  waxen-white  face,  closed  lids,  and 
p  w  29 


338  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

folded  hands,  more  deathlike  in  the  low  light  than  the 
form  upon  the  bed.  As  if  disturbed  by  the  viewless 
proximity  of  hi.s  enemy,  Caliban  stirred  with  an  inar 
ticulate  murmur.  His  young  mistress  bent  toward  him, 
took'  in  her  slender  fingers  the  tawny  hand  tossed  out 
upon  the  coverlet,  and  spoke  soothingly: 

"  What  is  it,  Caliban  ?" 

He  opened  his  black  eyes  to  their  fullest  width,  his 
teeth  showed  in  a  pleased  smile  : 

"Mis'  Evelyn,  ma'am — is  that  you?" 

"  Yes,  my  boy.  You  must  be  very  quiet.  You  have 
been  ill,  but  you  will  be  well  soon — very  soon  !" 

The  rush  of  blood  to  her  heart  almost  suffocated  her, 
but  she  compelled  herself  to  outward  composure. 

"  Ya'as,  ma'am.  De  skiff  war  gone,  Mis' Evelyn, 
when  I  got  to  de  lundin'.  I  was  jes"bleeged  fur  ter 
swim,  you  know,  ma'am." 

Agonizing  as  she  was  with  anxiety  to  hear  his  story, 
the  listener  tried  to  cheek  him.  One  hand  went  up  to 
her  throat ;  her  words  were  divided  by  short,  broken 
breaths. 

"  Yes,  my  good,  faithful  lad  !  We  know  that  you 
did  your  best.  But  you  must  sleep  now.  To-morrow 
you  shall  tell  me  all." 

"  Ya'as,  ma'am  !"  his  features  working  piteously. 
"  I  jes'  wan'  ter  say  's  how  de  letter  is  wropped  up,  safe 
V  soun',  up  liyur  /"  raising  his  hand  to  his  bandaged 
head.  "  I  ain'  los'  it !  I  can't  'member  what  come 
nex'  !  Who  fotch'  me  in  dis  room?" 

Heroically,  Evelyn  endeavored  to  calm  him,  drawing 
down  the  wandering  hand  and  patting  it  playfully. 

"  Now,  Caliban  !  you  always  mind   me,  you  know. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  339 

Don't  try  to  think,  to-night.  Shut  your  eyes  and  sleep, 
or  I  must  go  away.  You  have  been  ill,  as  I  told  you. 
And  because  we  all  like  you  so  much,  we  brought  you 
up  here  that  we  might  take  care  of  you.  Won't  you 
obey  me,  and  talk  no  more?" 

He  lay  still  so  long  with  closed  eyes  that  the  secre 
tary  began  to  breathe  freely  again.  A  gentle  rain  was 
falling  outside;  through  closed  doors  he  heard  Colonel 
Byrd  laugh — guardedly,  lest  even  at  that  distance  he 
might  disturb  the  copper-colored  devil  laid  in  state 
among  linen  and  down. 

The  boy  started  convulsively  ;  his  eyes  flew  open ; 
his  accents  were  strained  and  piercing  ;  his  words  poured 
forth  in  a  torrent  that  could  not  be  forced  back. 

"  I  'member  it  all  now,  Mis'  Evelyn,  ma'am  !  You 
better  sen'  right  straight  off  ttr  dat  ar'  schooner  !  Mr. 
Frarncis — he  dar  !  Mr.  Bass,  he  been  call  ter  Roger — 
kinder  high-up  like,  but  he  couldn'  fool  me — an'  he 
say,  'Go  home,  Roger!  we  gwine  ter  sen'  boat  up  de 
riber  pres'n'y,  an'  Mr.  Frarncis,  he'll  go  in  her.'  An* 
Iloger,  he  pull  up  de  riber.  'Twas  arter  dat,  right 
smart  while,  an'  de  storm  was  comin'  up  fas',  dat  I 
see  de  skiff.  Close  by  de  schooner,  she  war,  an'  I  jomp 
into  her,  an'  bymby  Mr.  Frarncis,  he  knock  open  de 
pote-hole,  an'  halloo  out  loud  an'  fierce-like, — '  Iloger! 
whar  are  you?'  An'  I  say,  'Here  me,  Mr.  Frarncis, 
suh!  What  mus'  I  do?'  An'  he  call  out,  'Go  ter 

Berkeley,  an'  tell '  Den,  Mis'  Evelyn!"  his  voice 

rising  into  a  scream,  "  he  ttik  an'  shoot  me  /" 

"  Who  /"  cried  the  horrified  woman,  throwing  her 
arms  about  the  form  that  struggled  to  sit  up.  "  Not 
he  !  Never !  never  !" 


340  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

"  Dat  low-live'  Bass  look  ober  de  side  o'  de  schooner, 
Mis'  Evelyn  !  Den,  he  shoot  me !" 

"You  LIE!"  thundered  a  terrible  voice. 

A  frantic  figure  with  livid    face  and    starting  eves 

O  ~  » 

dashed  at  the  bed.  More  quickly,  Mr.  Fontaine,  just 
entering  by  another  door,  threw  himself  in  the  mad 
man's  way.  They  were  locked  together,  one  swaying, 
wrestling  shape,  the  resolute  purpose  of  the  taller  and 
slighter  man  bearing  the  other  toward  the  doorway  and 
further  from  the  woman  whose  utmost  strength  was 
required  to  hold  the  lad  upon  the  pillow — when  Colonel 
Byrd  and  the  surgeon  rushed  up. 

Before  a  separating  hand  could  be  laid  upon  the 
combatants,  there  was  a  gurgle  and  a  lurch, — the  thud 
of  a  lifeless  body  upon  the  floor. 

The  three  men  took  up  the  secretary  and  bore  him 
to  his  own  chamber.  His  face  was  distorted  grotesquely 
when  he  revived  and  tried  to  speak.  But  half  of  his 
body  was  alive  and  sentient. 

The  "  worse  peril"  was  upon  him. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

HAD  Caliban  lied  in  a  tale  so  graphic  that  the  least 
important  feature  of  it  haunted  Evelyn's  imagination 
as  if  the  experience  detailed  had  been  her  very  own  ? 

The  question  was  not  to  be  settled  for  days,  each  of 
which  was  a  draught  upon  the  reserves  of  her  life.  A 
slow  fever  consumed  her  by  night,  and  the  dregs  were 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  341 

the  daily  lassitude  it  was  no  longer  practicable  to  con 
ceal.  She  had  no  pain, — so  she  protested, — and,  there 
fore,  must  rally  with  time.  Instead,  she  wasted  like  an 
untimely  snow-fall,  hidden  fires  licked  up  her  strength 
as  the  sun  the  dew.  In  after-days  those  who  were  con 
tinually  about  her  soothed  remorseful  regrets  by  recol 
lection  of  distracting  interests  that  inclined  notice  and 
solicitude  from  her  unmurmuring  self.  Caliban's  re- 

o 

lapse,  incident  upon  the  frightful  scene  in  his  room, 
brought  him  nearer  the  edge  of  the  grave  than  had  the 
original  wound.  Even  the  London  surgeon  gave  up 
hope  after  twenty-four  hours  of  delirium.  Then,  the 
marvellous  vitality  inherited  from  a  savage  ancestry  re 
asserted  itself;  the  fevered  brain  cooled,  and  reason  re- 
entered,  as  it  were,  a  house  swept  and  garnished.  Con 
versation  was  strictly  prohibited,  and  he  throve  apace, 
enjoying  with  childlike  glee  the  delicacies  sent  up  by 
Isis,  and  content  to  pass  most  of  his  time  in  sleep. 

He  was  in  the  second  week  of  his  convalescence  when 
a  startling  discovery  was  made.  In  the  bottom  of  the 
demijohn  of  brandy  kept  by  the  secretary  in  the  study- 
eupboard,  and  from  which  no  one  else  was  ever  known 
to  drink,  was  a  deposit  of  pounded  roots  which  Colonel 
By rd  identified  as  the  most  deadly  poison  known  to  the 
gatherer  of  simples  in  Virginian  forests.  The  specific 
action  of  it  was  upon  brain  and  nerve,  and  it  was  but 
too  probable  that  the  luckless  man's  frequent  potations 
of  the  noxious  decoction  had  undermined  an  iron  con 
stitution,  and  indicated  the  direction  in  which  the  arrow 
of  incurable  disease  should  be  sped. 

Cross-examination  of  every  negro  who  could  have 
had  access  to  the  room  and  closet  failed  to  elicit  any 


342  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

testimony  bearing  upon  the  mystery.  If  Isis  recol 
lected,  sh udder ingly,  the  visit  of  the  Indian  doctress, 
she  held  her  tongue,  and  when  the  incident  was  referred 
to  by  a  younger  and  less  discreet  witness,  she  was  ready 
to  risk  her  soul's  safety  upon  the  asseveration  that  the 
squaw  stayed  but  three  hours  on  the  plantation,  and  did 
not  set  foot  in  the  mansion.  Caliban's  rooted  hatred  of 
Bass  was  likewise  descanted  upon,  but  the  preparation 
of  the  poison,  and  the  introduction  of  it  into  the  demi 
john  usually  kept  under  lock-and-key,  argued  a  degree 
of  intelligence  the  quarter-witted  boy  had  displayed  in 
nothing  else  since  he  received  his  hurt. 

~ 

To  save  the  family  credit,  Osiris  set  on  foot  the  story 
that  the  secretary  had  malignantly  contrived  his  own 
poisoning  by  slow  degrees  and  ingenious  processes  of 
torture.  It  was,  in  the  chief  butler's  opinion,  "  a  low- 
down  trick,  but  only  what  might  be  expected  from  a 
man  o'  no  fam'ly  and  no  bringing-up  to  speak  of. 
'Twas  pity  he  hadn't  done  the  thing  in  genteeler  style, 
and  made  a  respectable  corp'  of  himself,  instead  of  a 
half-rotten  lorg  like  that  stretched  out  up-sta'rs." 

And  so  October — St.  John  the  golden-mouthed 
amonw  the  twelve  fathers  of  the  vear — went,  and  in 

O  •* 

the  second  week  of  November,  on  a  day  when  dis 
heartened  drizzle,  gray  as  lead  and  chill  as  snow,  alter 
nated  with  angry  showers  that  pitted  the  river  with  the 
force  of  bullets — a  sloop  was  lashed  up  the  stream  by 
east  winds,  and  moored  at  the  Westover  dock. 

Two  well-known  figures  came  ashore,  and  mounted 
the  winding  flight  of  stone  steps  that  were  as  slippery 
as  glass.  They  were  Martha  Jaqueline  and  Miss  Lotsie 
Johnson. 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  343 

"Does  Evelyn  know  that  I  am  here?"  queried  the 
former  of  Madam  Byrd,  who  met  her  in  the  hall. 

"  !N"o.  She  has  not  been  down-stairs  to-day.  She  is 
not  so  well  fora  week  past,  and  her  father  counselled  her 
to  remain  in  her  chamber  until  the  weather  changes." 

"  Let  nobody  boar  the  news  to  her  until  I  have  seen 
Colonel  Byrd.  My  first  errand  is  with  him.  He  is  in 
the  library — do  yon  say  ?" 

Madam  watched  her  to  the  library-door  and  ventured 
not  to  follow  her.  The  serious  directness  of  the  visitor's 
address,  the  grave  dignity  of  her  bearing,  rebuked 
curiosity.  Something  had  happened,  or  was  to  happen, 
and  the  experiences  of  the  past  year  made  the  good 
woman  timorous  of  getting  herself  "  mixed  up"  with 
new  adventures. 

The  sun,  whose  existence  was  that  day  received  as  a 
fact  by  faith  alone,  was  an  hour  nearer  his  setting  when 
Colonel  Byrd  handed  Miss  Jaqueline  up  the  stairs  and 
to  his  daughter's  chamber.  His  wife,  meeting  them  on 
the  way,  after  one  glance  at  him,  passed  on  without 
speaking.  His  face  was  haggard,  the  down-drawn 
lines  cut  deeply  as  if  never  to  be  erased.  It  was  the 
first  look  of  age  she  had  ever  seen  there,  and  it  terrified 
her  to  tears. 

He  pushed  back  Evelyn's  door  softly.  A  faint  voice, 
like  a  tuneful  whisper,  was  singing : 

"  "When  the  willow  droops  the  greenest, 
Sweeps  the  streamlet's  rim  the  cleanest; 
When  the  young  bird  flies  the  strongest, 
When  the  sky-glow  shines  the  longest — 
It  is  then  I'll  take  my  Norma 

From  the  green  hedge — o'er  the  lea  1" 

A  lon£,  trembling  sigh  followed. 


344  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

Evelyn  sat  before  the  fire  in  an  easy-chair,  propped 
by  pillows,  her  feet  upon  a  cushioned  stool.  Upon  the 
chill,  neutral-tinted  light — if  that  be  light  which  can 
only  be  said  not  to  be  darkness — falling  sluggishly 
through  the  windows,  the  flaming  logs  tossed  rosy 
waves  that  ran  up  the  still  folds  of  the  dim-blue  gown 
enwrapping  the  invalid  ;  kissed  and  flecked  and  dallied 
with  the  folded  hands  ;  struck  prismatic  sparkles  from 
the  "  wish-ring,"  but  kept  back  from  the  white  face  with 
its  deep,  shining  eyes  and  nameless  look  of  serene  ex 
pectation  which  those  who  have  once  seen  it  upon  a 
beloved  visage,  know  ever  afterward  as  the  light  that 
comes  at  eventide. 

Martha  brought  her  hands  together  in  an  impulsive 
gesture,  and  laid  her  brow  upon  them  for  an  instant; 
her  features  worked  as  she  signed  to  her  companion  to 
precede  her. 

"  It  is  I,  my  daughter !"  There  was  a  palpable 
and  successful  effort  to  bear  himself  as  she  was  used 
to  see  him.  "And  I  have  brought  a  visitor  whom 
you  will  be  more  glad  to  see — Mistress  Martha  Jaque- 
line!" 

Evelyn  settled  her  eyes  searchingly  upon  her  friend's 
face,  as  the  latter  arose  from  her  embrace : 

"You  bring  me  news!"  she  said,  confidently.  "Sit 
you  there,  and  tell  me  all." 

"  You  are  right,  dear  !''  Martha  sat  down  upon  the 
foot-cushion,  leaned  her  arms  upon  the  elbows  of  the 
chair,  and  returned  the  gaze  by  one  full  of  love  and 
meaning.  "  I  have  tidings.  I  came  hither  for  no 
other  purpose  than  to  bring  them  to  you.  It  is  your 
father's  wish  that  all  shall  be  said  in  his  presence." 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  345 

Evelyn  reached  up  her  hand  to  touch  his  cheek,  and 
motioned  to  him  to  sit  beside  her. 

"  Papa  and  I  have  no  secrets  from  one  another.  Say 
what  you  will !" 

"  Dear  heart !"  While  Martha  talked,  she  never 
withdrew  her  meaningful  eyes  from  the  lily- face 
drooped  toward  her ;  her  fingers  were  interlaced  to 
torture,  but  her  tone  did  not  falter.  "  All  that  Caliban 
said  was  true.  The  hearing  of  it  should  have  prepared 
you  for  what  is  coming.  When  the  gale  drove  the 
schooner  out  to  sea,  she  carried  Charles  Mordaunt  with 
her.  She  was  heard  from,  you  know,  within  a  few 
weeks  afterward.  We  did  not  dream  then  how  closely 
the  news  concerned  us.  We  have  heard  again  of  her — 
and  of  him.  He  is  living,  and  well  !" 

For  reply  there  were  the  closer  clasping  of  one 
wasted  hand  upon  the  other,  the  upraising  of  eyes 
glorious  in  devout  gladness,  the  fluttering  breath  be 
tween  the  parted  lips.  The  spirit,  like  a  captive  dove, 
strained  at  the  cord  withholding  it  from  the  sun-bright 
fields  of  ether. 

Martha's  intent  gaze  stirred  not  from  the  rapt  face. 

"  He  is  well  and  faithful,  dearest !" 

A  beautiful  smile,  proud  and  sweet,  prefaced  the 
response : 

"  Living  or  dying,  he  would  be  that!" 

"  Yes — living  or  dying,  every  beat  of  that  true 
heart  is  yours.  He  was  at  the  other  side  of  the  world 
when  he  wrote  to  me — on  his  way  to  England  whither 
imperative  business  called  him.  He  will  be  here  ere 
long.  Are  you  hearkening,  my  dearling?  He  did 
not  go  so  far  away  of  his  own  will.  Xor  did  the 


HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

storm  beat  the  vessel  out  of  her  course.  It  was  in 
tended  that  he  should  be  borne  off,  and  you  were  to 
suppose  that  he  had  deserted  you " 

A  motion  of  fine  disdain  checked  her. 

"  But  I  should  have  known  better  !  He  did  not  fear 
that!  Goon!" 

"  He  boarded  the  schooner  of  his  own  motion,  and 
went  below  to  see  his  boxes  disposed  in  cabin  and  hold. 
Poor  Roger  was  sent  home  without  his  knowledge. 
When  he  would  have  quitted  the  cabin,  the  door  was 
fast.  He  struck  open  a  port-hole  and  shouted  to 
Roger.  Caliban  answered.  Then  the  hurricane  came 
upon  them. 

"Sweetheart!  my  part  of  the  tale  is  told.  The 
residue  you  will  have  from  other  lips.  Before  I  quit 
you  for  a  little  space,  I  pray  you  hold  to  your  heart 
the  honey  and  wine  I  have  brought.  Say,  while  you 
listen  to  the  rest,  '  He  lives  !  he  loves  me !  He  is 
coming!  coming!  coming!'  and  put  from  you  what 
would  else  be  as  bitter  as  gall.  My  snow-drop!  mine 
bonnie,  bonnie  bird !  kiss  me  once,  and  let  me  be  gone, 
that  what  is  to  follow  be  done  quickly !" 

Evelyn  looked  after  her  in  bewilderment,  then  in 
quiringly  at  her  father.  He  had  arisen  to  open  the 
door  for  Martha  to  pass  out.  He  now  came  around 
before  his  daughter,  and  bent  one  knee  to  the  floor.  At 
the  sunken  cheeks,  the  dreary  eyes  raised  to  her,  Evelyn 
cried  out,  dismayed, — 

"  Papa  !  oh,  what  is  it  ?" 

"  You  have  heard  that  your  lover  was  spirited 
away — and  why.  Against  his  will,  he  was  a  wanderer 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep  for  six  months.  It  was 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  347 

meant  that  a  full  year  should  pass  before  you  could 
hear  from  him.  That  he  whose  sentence  this  was,  was 
himself  kept  in  ignorance  by  the  interposition  of  a 
providential  agency,  of  the  fate  of  this  most  unfortu 
nate  gentleman,  is  no  excuse  for  the  crime  that  cost 
him  his  liberty  and  happiness — that  has  broken  your 
heart !  Can  you  forgive  him  V 

She  stroked  his  hair;  stooped  over  to  kiss  him  be 
tween  the  eyes ;  the  serenity  of  countenance  and  attitude 
told  that  she  was  feeding  upon  the  honey  and  wine  left 
to  her  in  such  bounteous  measure. 

"It  was  that  unhappy  man  that  lies  speechless  and 
nigh  unto  death,  I  suppose.  Martha  warned  me,  once 
and  again,  to  beware  of  him,  and  I  believed  her  not. 
Poor  wretch !" 

"Child!  child!  no!  He  was  the  tool — mine  was 
the  hand!  It  is  your  father  who,  on  bended  knee, 
confesses  that  he  has  sinned  against  heaven  and  against 
you,  and  begs  you  to  forgive  him  !" 

She  recoiled  sharply, — made  as  though  she  would 
spurn  him  as  he  clung  to  her  knees, — a  horror  of 
loathing,  a  terror  of  him  as  of  something  base  and 
noxious  and  abhorrent,  was  instinct  in  every  feature. 
She  tore  her  gown  from  his  hold,  struggling  to  her 
feet  as  if  to  escape  from  his  touch  and  presence, 

"My  GOD!"  she  cried,  frantically.  "  And  this  man 
is  my  father  !  Why  was  I  not  let  to  die  before  hearing 
it?" 

In  another  second,  she  had  fallen  upon  his  neck. 

"  Papa  !  Papa  !  May  the  Saviour  of  sinners  for 
give  me  as  I  forgive  you  !" 

When  Martha  Jaqueline  again  looked  into  the  room, 


HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

the  father  sat  with  his  child  in  his  arms,  her  head 
cradled  on  his  shoulder,  her  wasted  hands  clasped  be 
hind  his  neck.  The  fire-waves  had  washed  the  gray 
light  so  little  removed  from  shadow,  back  to  the  win 
dows  and  out  into  the  stormy  gloaming.  Upon  the 
daughter's  uplifted  face  was  the  radiance  of  an  infinite 
blessedness, — but  the  friend  beheld,  with  a  failing  heart, 
in  eye  and  upon  cheek,  the  shadow  of  a  mightier 
Coming, — even  that  of  the  Guest  that  knocks  but  once 
at  the  door  of  every  human  heart,  and  will  not  be  turned 
away. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

IT  all  was  so  long  ago,  dear  reader,  that  many  echoes 
of  that  eventful  Past  dispersed  into  naught  before  you 
and  I  or  our  parents  were  born. 

Hence  we  have  no  further  word,  traditional  or  doc 
umentary,  of  the  stricken  secretary  after  we  leave  him 
lying,  a  bit  of  worthless  drift-wood,  in  his  upper  cham 
ber  dependent  for  daily  tendance  upon  menials  who 
despised  him,  the  scheming  brain  benumbed,  the  facile 
tongue  and  fingers  alike  palsied.  From  obscurity  he 
came,  into  obscurity  lie  returned. 

Caliban,  we  are  told,  lived  to  a  dignified  old  age,  not 
scrupling  to  derive  a  liberal  percentage  of  the  respect 
awarded  him  by  old  and  young,  from  the  ever-growing 
narrative  of  the  deed  done  upon  his  cranium.  In 
time,  when  tljose  who  could  have  established  or  refuted 
the  tale  had  passed  away,  it  came  to  be  believed  that  a 


IUS  GREAT  SELF.  349 

silver  plate  had  been  inserted  in  place  of  bits  of  bone 
shattered  by  the  bullet.  The  scalp,  taking  kindly  to 
the  substitute,  had  healed  over  it,  leaving  a  ridge  about 
the  metal  edges.  Capillary  growth  was  more  scrupu 
lous,  and  the  bare  space  upon  the  butler's  pate  was 
regarded  with  reverential  curiosity  by  his-  juniors. 

A  story  that  does  him  more  honor  is  that,  in  dying, 
he  asked  and  obtained  the  promise  from  his  "young 
master," — then  a  middle-aged  man  and  Colonel  of  a 
Colonial  regiment  of  Virginia  troops, — that  he  might 
be  buried  at  "  Mis'  Evelyn's"  feet.  Whether  or  not 
this  be  authentic,  no  trace  of  the  grave  remains. 

The  little  chapel  was,  by  order  of  the  second  wife 
and  widow  of  William,  the  Third  Byrd  of  Westover, 
removed,  brick  by  brick,  and  reconstructed  at  Evelyn- 
ton,  about  three  miles  farther  inland,  and  is  still  used 
as  a  house  of  worship.  The  flat  stone  covering  the 
mortal  relics  of  Theodorick  Bland  marks  the  place  once 
enclosed  as  a  chancel. 

This  is  Christmas-week,  and  wassail,  like  unto  the 
times  that  are  no  more,  and  can  never  be  again,  pre 
vails  at  Westover.  A  cold  rain  set  in  at  nightfall, 
but  "curtained,  and  closed,  and  warm,"  I  sit  before 
the  glowing  grate  in  the  drawing-room,  in  converse 
with  the  sunny-faced,  sound-hearted  chatelaine  of  the 
ancient  homestead,  and  let  the  storm  drive  and  the  hours 
fleet  by.  From  the  billiard-room,  in  the  third  story, 
ripples  of  merry  talk  and  leaping  rills  of  laughter  fall 
down  the  stairs  that  once  echoed  the  firm  tread  of  the 
courtly  Master  of  the  realm ;  the  curiously-twisted 
balustrades  of  which  were  swept  by  Madam's  brocades 
and  Evelyn's  muslins  and  taffetas. 

30 


350  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

It  was  at  supper-time,  and  in  gay  chat  with  her  young 
guests,  that  our  hostess  introduced  the  topic  that  has 
engaged  her  tongue  and  mine  since  the  boys  and  girls 
went  off  to  their  balls  and  cues. 

"  You  must  go  on  a  rainy  midnight,  such  as  this  will 
be,  each  of  you  alone," — she  said,  in  mock  solemnity, — 
"  to  Colonel  Byrd's  tomb  out  there  in  the  middle  of 
the  garden,  and,  putting  your  lips  close  to  the  ground, 
say,  '  Colonel  Byrd  !  do  you  know  any  reason  why  you 
should  lie  here,  in  unconsecrated  ground  and  alone, 
while  the  rest  of  your  family  are  buried  together  over 
yonder  in  the  grave-yard?'  Say  it  distinctly  and  re 
spectfully — each  by  himself  or  herself,  out  there  in 
the  rainy  midnight — and  he  will  answer,  '  Nothing — 
nothing  /' " 

The  tall  monument,  defaced  by  the  storms  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  says  enough  to  justify  his 
silence.  He  was  the  elh'e  of  Sir  Robert  Southwell, 
"  the  bosom-friend  of  the  learned  and  illustrious  Charles 
Boyle,  Earl  of  Orrery.  .  .  .  To  all  this  were  added  a 
great  elegancy  of  taste  and  life,  the  well-bred  gentleman 
and  polite  companion,  the  splendid  economist,  the  con 
stant  enemy  of  exorbitant  power,  and  hearty  friend  to 
the  liberties  of  his  country." 

In  his  diary  he  sets  down,  with  no  flourish  of  self- 
glorification  : 

"  We  laid  the  Foundation  of  Two  large  Cities,  one 
at  Shoccoe's,  to  be  called  Richmond,  and  the  other  at 
the  Point  of  Appomattox,  to  be  called  Petersburg." 

The  ambitions  structure  in  the  middle  of  the  garden, 
and  Westover,  lifting  high  in  air  the  peak  of  its  win 
dowed  roof,  are  but  two  of  his  many  monuments. 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  351 

The  Colony  owed  him  ranch;  the  State  owes  him  no 
less. 

Our  hostess  is  the  direct  descendant  of  sweet  Anne 
Harrison,  and  while  in  the  four-feet-on-a-fender  inti 
macy  of  the  wintry  night,  our  thoughts  mingle  spon 
taneously  in  one  deepening  channel,  she  tells  me  how 
her  ancestress  and  Evelyn  Byrd  loved  and  sought  one 
another;  of  the  promise  made,  a  month  before  the  death 
of  the  younger  woman,  to  show  herself  to  her  friend 
even  after  she  should  have  "  gone  quite  away." 

"The  story  runs," — says  my  companion,— "  that,  on 
the  anniversary  of  that  mid-October  day,  Mrs.  Harrison 
visited  the  church-yard,  and,  while  sitting  there  and 
thinking  sadly  of  her  lost  friend,  she  saw  Evelyn  glide 
toward  her  from  the  church-porch,  between  the  graves. 
She  was  robed  all  in  white :  she  moved  lightly  and 

J  O  ^ 

swiftly  ;  her  face  was  bright  with  ecstasy,  and  more 
beautiful,  with  an  elevated,  ethereal  beauty,  than  ever 
in  life.  She  paused  beside  her  own  grave-stone.  You 
know  she  is  buried  on  the  spot  where  her  last  parting 
with  her  lover  took  place  ?  There  she  stopped,  threw 
a  kiss  to  her  friend,  with  a  smile  of  unutterable  love 
and  happiness — and  vanished  !" 

A  less  pleasing  legend,  and  less  credible,  is  that  the 
pale  shade  of  "  The  Fair  Evelyn" — as  she  is  named  in 
family  tradition — walks  by  night  in  the  corridors  of 
Westover  and  along  the  rose-alleys,  wan  and  woful, 
forever  plucking  at  the  ring  placed  upon  her  finger  by 
her  titled  lover. 

We  have  seen,  to-day,  her  portrait,  transferred  from 
Westover  to  Brandon,  when  her  grand-niece  married  a 
Harrison  of  Martin's  Brandon.  Near  it  hangs  that  of 


352  HIS  GREAT  SELF. 

her  father  in  court-dress.  The  resemblance  between 
them  is  marvellous,  especially  in  the  brows,  the  bril 
liant,  broad-lidded  eyes,  and  the  delicately-symmetrical 
hands.  Evelyn's  gown  is  blue,  faint  and  dim  in  shade, 
and  modestly  decollete  in  cut.  Her  abundant  hair  is 
rich  brown  ;  her  perfect  hands  are  binding  flowers  about 
a  shepherdess-hat ;  a  rose  is  over  her  left  temple.  By  a 
conceit  characteristic  of  the  artist  of  the  period,  said  in 
this  instance  to  have  been  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller, — a  red 
bird  is  perched  in  the  tree  at  her  right ;  over  her  left 
shoulder  is  a  lane  with  sheep. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  picture,  with  its  conventional 
affectation  of  pastoral  life  mocked  by  court-costume, 
to  hint  at  the  constancy  that  made  her  life  romantic,  or 
the  sorrow  that  lent  it  tragedy,  unless  a  certain  pen- 
siveness  of  the  dark  eyes  be  premonition  of  coming 
shadows.  It  was  painted  in  England,  before  the 
shadows  gathered. 

"  She  was  beloved  by  and  betrothed  to  Lord  Peter 
borough,  a  Roman  Catholic  nobleman,  but  her  father 
prevented  the  marriage  on  account  of  the  noble  suitor's 
religion.  Refusing  all  offers  from  other  gentlemen,  she 
died  of  a  broken  heart." 

I  have  copied  the  few,  pregnant,  pathetic  lines  from 
a  time-spotted  family  MS.,  as  an  abstract  of  what  parent 
and  child  chose  to  have  the  world  know. 

"Of  Mr.  Fontaine,  who  spent  his  whole  ministry  of 
about  forty  years  in  the  county  of  Charles  City"  (in 
which  Westover  is  situated),  "with  the  exception  of  a 
short  time  at  Jamestown  and  Wallingford  parish,  it 
becomes  us  to  add  something  more,"  is  the  preamble 
penned  by  a  distinguished  Bishop  of  his  Church  to  a 


HIS   GREAT  SELF.  353 

glowing  recital  of  the  virtues  and  works  of  this  one  of 
the  Church's  servants. 

The  same  pen  copies  a  letter  which  includes  affec 
tionate  mention  of  "  my  highly- respected  aunt,  Martha 
Jaqueline,  who  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-three.  .  .  .  Our 
dear  aunt,  Martha  Jaqueline,  chose  to  take  upon  her 
the  title  of  '  Mrs.'  at  the  age  of  fifty,  this  being  the 
custom  with  spinsters  in  that  day." 

We  saw  at  Shirley  yesterday  the  portrait  of  Lady 
Bess,  the  "  good-humored  little  Fairy"  of  Colonel 
Byrd's  diary.  The  picture  was  painted  when  she  was 
seventeen,  just  prior  to  her  marriage  to  William  the 
Third  of  Westover, — the  match  agreed  upon  between 
the  parents  of  the  contracting  parties.  The  midnight 
hour  strikes  while  I  listen  to  the  tale  of  a  union  made 
unhappy  by  strifes  of  temper  between  two  spoiled 
children,  of  her  mother-in-law's  intolerance  with 
"  Betty's"  frivolous  tastes  and  extravagances ;  lastly, 
of  her  death  by  the  fall  upon  her  of  a  heavy  oaken 
press,  or  armoire. 

Hapless  little  Fairy  !  We  give  her  more  than  one 
sigh  in  returning  to  her  whose  petted  darling  she 
was. 

"And  Evelyn  died  without  seeing  Lord  Peter 
borough  again  ?"  I  lament. 

The  door  uncloses  to  admit  a  man  who  catches  the 
name.  He  repeats  it,  in  drawing  a  chair  up  to  the 
fire. 

"  Lord    Peterborough  won    the  cup    at   the    Inter 
national  Steeple  Chase  at  Baden-Baden  in  18 7-,"  says 
the  President  of  the  Gentleman's  Riding  Club,  whose 
own  prizes  for  similar  victories  are  notable. 
x  30* 


354  HIS   GREAT  SELF. 

We  look  at  him  in  amazed  interest  that  moves  him 
to  add  particulars. 

"  The  Major  and  I  were  abroad  together  that  year, 
and  went  to  Baden-Baden  to  attend  the  races.  The 
young  English  lord  rode  magnificently  !"  warming  with 
his  theme.  "  A  noble-looking  fellow  he  was,  too,  with 
fair  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  as  fine  a  pair  of  shoulders  as 
you  ever  saw !" 

This  true  "  happening"  is  but  one  of  many  proofs 
we  term  idly  "  coincidences,"  that  the  world  is  round, 
and  generations  are  but  so  many  circles  intersecting 
each  other,  most  often  at  the  most  unlikely  points. 

In  at  the  opening  door,  like  the  bound  of  a  brook  in 
June,  all  sparkle  and  laughter,  troop  the  young  people. 
A  girl  flutters  to  the  piano  and  begins  to  sing.  A  sad 
ballad,  of  course,  such  as  only  happy  women  dare  to 
sing.  As  with  full  heart  and  eyes  I  steal  away  up  the 
stairs,  I  hear  the  burden  : 

"  My  eyes  are  filled  with  tears 

And  my  heart  is  numb  with  woe — 
It  seems  as  if  'twere  yesterday, 
And  it  all  was  Long  Ago  !" 

In  my  chamber — once  Evelyn  Byrd's — the  little 
incident  of  the  Baden-Baden  steeple-chase  banishes 
sleep  from  my  eyelids.  With  only  the  soft  coal  fire  for 
confidante,  as  I  hearken  to  the  heavy  east  wind,  the 
plash  and  drip  of  the  rain  against  my  panes,  I  paint 
to  myself  the  picture  of  the  Berkeley  race-day,  and 
the  hero  of  the  course,  the  knightly  youth  with  the 
broidered  scarf  crossing  a  heart  bounding  high  with 
love,  and  hope,  and  courage, — and  the  grand  stand, 


HIS  GREAT  SELF.  355 

with    that  other  superb   figure   in   the   front  rank  of 
spectators. 

With  the  scene  before  me,  "as  if 'twere  yesterday," 
I  marvel  anew  at  the  chance  word  that,  a  century-and- 
a-half  later,  has  dashed  upon  the  canvas  the  sketch  of 
the  fair-haired,  blue-eyed  "  crack"  rider  of  that  other 
course  across  the  sea,  winning  the  cup  under  the  eyes 
of  the  present  Master  of  Westover. 


THE    END. 


NOVELS  BY 
CAPT.  CHARLES  KING,  U.S.A. 


CAPTAIN   BLAKE. 

\VithIllustrations.     I2mo.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

"  It  is  like  a  long  draught  of  clear,  cool  spring  water  after  a 
hot  and  dusty  desert  ride  to  read  this  fresh,  breezy,  wholesome 
story,  peopled  by  manly  men  and  womanly  women,  and  full  of 
the  bold,  free  life  of  the  soldier  on  the  frontier,  with  enough  of 
the  schemes  of  scamps  to  give  it  lively  interest,  and  abounding 
in  brilliant  and  charming  pictures  of  the  life  of  the  soldier  in 
the  quiet  of  peace  at  the  remote  frontier  posts  and  the  thrilling 
excitement  of  battle  with  wily,  savage,  and  desperate  foes.  .  .  . 
Captain  King  has  done  much  to  give  the  people  at  large,  who 
have  known  next  to  nothing  of  the  dangers  and  privations  and 
priceless  services  of  our  small  military  force,  a  better  idea  of 
what  the  country  owes  to  its  meagre  but  gallant  force  of  de 
fenders.  He  writes  of  the  life,  the  dangers,  the  joys,  the  sor 
rows,  of  which  he  has  personal  knowledge,  and  there  is  no 
more  lagging  or  dulness  in  this  tale  than  in  many  of  the  won 
derful  marches  made  by  the  force  of  which  he  is  a  worthy 
member.  This  story  is  one  of  his  best." — Chicago  Times. 

THE  COLONEL'S  DAUGHTER.     With  Illustrations 
MARION'S  FAITH.     With  Illustrations     , 


STARLIGHT  RANCH,  and  Other  Stories 
KITTY'S  CONQUEST 

LARAMIE  ;  OR,  THE  QUEEN  OF  BEDLAM 
THE  DESERTER,  and  FROM  THE  RANKS 
Two  SOLDIERS,  and  DUNRAVEN  RANCH 


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"  He  is  a  graceful  and  vigorous  writer.  His  novels  are  sure 
to  be  out  of  the  common  run :  he  depicts  military  life  on  the 
frontier  with  a  fidelity  that  has  won  much  praise;  his  romance 
is  always  pure  and  sweet;  and  while  he  is  sometimes  severe 
with  his  women  characters,  he  has  the  art  of  setting  forth  the 
better  qualities  of  the  sex  with  enticing  realism.  In  a  word,  he 
is  simple  and  natural  in  all  that  he  writes.  To  take  up  a  book 
from  his  pen  is  to  be  sure  of  an  hour  of  harmless  pleasure."  — 
Boston  Beacon. 

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ENTERTAINING  STORIES 

BY  THE  MISSES  WARNER. 


PATIENCE. 

By  ANNA  B.  WARNER.     I2mo.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

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ine  is  not  one  of  those  too-good-to-live  creatures  found  only  in  story-books, 
but  just  such  a  sweet,  impulsive  girl  that  we  all  cannot  but  love." — Balti 
more  American. 

"Told  so  well  and  withal  so  natural — character,  scenes,  incidents,  all 
— that  any  reader  with  the  least  spark  of  sentiment  will  come  to  love  and 
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Hathaway,  after  all,  lost  the  lover  she  sweetly  worshipped  and  failed  to 
receive  in  maturer  years  the  reward  that  ought  to  have  been  bestowed  upon 
such  a  heroine — and  perhaps  would  have  been  were  the  writer  not  retailing 
a  story  of  long  ago  as  it  was  told  her.  By  all  means  read  Anna  B.  Warner's 
latest  and  best  romance." — Detroit  Commercial-Advertiser. 

DAISY.     A  Sequel  to  Melbourne  House. 
DOLLARS  AND  CENTS       SAY  AND  SEAL. 
MY  BROTHER'S  KEEPER.  THE  HILLS  OF  THE  SHATEMUC. 
QUEECHY.  THE  WIDE,  WIDE  WORLD. 

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THE  WIDE,  WIDE  WORLD. 

By  ELIZABETH  WETHERELL.  With  Etchings  by  FRED 
ERICK  DIELMAN.  Complete  in  one  Volume.  Small  8vo. 
Printed  on  laid  paper.  Cloth  extra,  $2.50. 

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125,000  copies  were  sold,  and  up  to  the  present  time  the  sales  have  reached 
nearly  450,000  copies.  The  story  will  be  always  read  by  succeeding  gen 
erations,  and  ever  find  a  welcome  in  American  homes.  The  additional 
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.JAKEN   BY  SIEGE. 

A  Novel.      Handsomely  issued  in  I2mo  form.     Extra  cloth 
binding,  $1.25. 

"  A  graphic  and  very  interesting  anonymous  story  of  a  young  journal 
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mystery,  hut  that  the  heroine  is  Miss  Clara  Louise  Kellogg  there  is  little 
doubt.  The  other  characters  will  be  readily  recognized  as  conspicuous  in 
New  York  society.  The  story  reveals  the  inside  workings  of  some  of  the 
metropolitan  newspapers,  and  shows  how,  by  pluck,  brains,  and  luck,  a 
new  man  may  sometimes  ri^e  rapidly  to  the  highest  rank  in  journalism, 
distancing  the  veterans.  The  author  has  unusual  ability  as  a  writer  of 
fiction." — Albany  Journal. 


BY  MARY  AGNES   TINCKER. 

AURORA. 

Illustrated.      121110.      Cloth,  $1.25. 

"  It  is  a  story  so  delicately  wrought,  so  artistically  perfect,  that  one 
reads  it  with  a  delight  that  deepens  into  fervor  and  enthusiasm.  It  is  a 
story  of  Italian  life,— of  love,  of  intrigue,  of  despair,  of  aspiration.  It  is 
full  of  dramatic  situations,  and  ot  subtle,  pervasive  power." — Boston 
Evening  Traveller. 

"  Everything  which  Miss  Tincker  writes  bears  the  stamp  of  a  refined 
mind,  a  poetic  temperament,  and  unmistakable  genius.  The  story  glows 
with  Southern  warmth  and  sparkles  with  good  things,  and  is  very  complete 
in  every  way." — London  Whitehall  Review. 

THE   JEWEL    IN    THE   LOTOS. 

Illustrated.      I2mo.     Extra  cloth,  $1.25. 

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ality.  It  is  full  of  beautiful  pictures,  and  has  certain  passages  we  should 
be  glad  to  quote,  but  we  must  be  content  to  leave  these  to  the  reader  to 
discover."—  The  Literary  World. 

"  An  Italian  tale  of  the  highest  order  of  literary  merit.  The  pictures 
of  life  in  the  land  of  bright  skies  and  dark  deeds  are  powerfully  drawn,  as 
with  a  masculine  hand,  while  the  emotions  are  played  upon  with  a  touch 
delicately  feminine.  The  language  is  as  fluent  as  the  discernment  is  keen,  i 
and  the  reader  is  carried  along  by  an  easy  progress  through  the  details  of 
a  rather  sad  plot  as  smoothly  as  the  glide  of  a  gondola  on  a  Venetian 
canal,  constantly  enjoying  sensations  as  grateful  as  the  balmy  air  that 
soothes  the  feelings  in  the  land  of  history  and  of  romance.  It  is  a  valuable 
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s 


TORIES  BY 

FRANCES  COURTENAY  BAYLOR. 


ON    BOTH   SIDES. 

I2mo.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

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ment,  that  will  be  most  enjoyed  by  those  of  most  cultivation,  that  is  clever, 
keen,  and  intellectual  enough  to  be  recognized  as  genuine  wit,  and  yet 
good-natured  and  amiable  enough  to  be  accepted  as  the  most  delightful 
humor.  It  is  not  fun,  but  intelligent  wit;  it  is  not  mere  comicality,  but 
charming  humor;  it  is  not  a  collection  of  bright  sayings  of  clever  people, 
but  a  reproduction  of  ways  of  thought  and  types  of  manner  infinitely  en 
tertaining  to  the  reader,  while  not  in  the  least  funny  to  the  actor,  or 
intended  by  him  to  appear  funny.  It  is  inimitably  good  as  a  rendering  of 
the  peculiarities  of  British  and  of  American  nature  and  training,  while  it 
is  so  perfectly  free  from  anything  like  ridicule,  that  the  victims  would  be  the 
first  to  smile." — The  Critic. 


BEHIND    THE   BLUE    RIDGE. 


A   SHOCKING   EXAMPLE, 

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Baylor,  whose  '  On  Both  Sides'  has  won  for  her  so  enviable  a  reputation 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic." — Boston  Home  Journal. 


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UC  SOUT 


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